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Ohio Counties

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Ohio Counties

There is eighty-eight counties in the state of Ohio. The Ohio Constitution allows counties to set up a charter government as many cities and villages do, but only Summit County has done so.

Washington County, Ohio

Washington County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Marietta
Year Organized: 1788
Square Miles: 635

Court House:

223 Putnam Street
County Courthouse
Marietta, OH 45750-3015

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Residents named the county in honor of George Washington, a hero of the American Revolution and the first President of the United States. Washington County was the first county created in what would become Ohio.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

On July 27, 1788, the government of the Northwest Territory authorized the creation of Washington County. Residents named the county in honor of George Washington, a hero of the American Revolution and the first President of the United States. Washington County was the first county created in what would become Ohio. Originally, the county covered almost fifty percent of modern-day Ohio. As more people migrated to the state, new counties were separated from Washington County to provide new residents with more direct contact with their local government.

Washington County is located in southeastern Ohio. The county's southern border lies along the Ohio River. It is predominantly rural, with two percent of the county's 635 square miles consisting of urban areas. The county is also in the heart of Appalachia. The county seat is Marietta, the first community established by the Ohio Company of Associates in 1788. With a population of 14,515 people, Marietta was the county's largest community in 2000. Washington County's population has remained relatively steady in recent years. The population of the county was 63,251 in 2000. The county averages almost one hundred people per square mile.

The largest employers in Washington County are farms, retail businesses, and service industries. During the nineteenth century, many county residents earned a living through shipping on the Ohio River. In 1999, the per capita income in the county was 22,298 dollars, with 12.3 percent of the people living in poverty.

Most voters in Washington County claim to be independents.

Ohio Governor Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., was a resident of Washington County.

Sources
Washington County, Ohio History Central, July 24, 2008,
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=2028&nm=Washington-County

Neighboring Counties:

Noble County (north)
Monroe County (northeast)
Tyler County, West Virginia (east)
Pleasants County, West Virginia (southeast)
Wood County, West Virginia (south)
Athens County (southwest)
Morgan County (northwest)

Cities and Towns:

- Adams	township
- Aurelius	township
- Barlow	township
- Belpre	city	Incorporated Area
- Beverly	village	Incorporated Area
- Dunham	township
- Fearing	township
- Liberty	township
- Lowell	village	Incorporated Area
- Lower Salem	village	Incorporated Area
- Ludlow	township
- Macksburg	village	Incorporated Area
- Marietta (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Matamoras	village	Incorporated Area
- Muskingum	township
- Newport	township
- Palmer	township
- Waterford	township
- Watertown	township
- Wesley	township

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."