geography

Washington County Chapter
Ohio Genealogical Society
PO Box 2174
Marietta, OH 45750-7174

www.WashOGS.org

Washington County, Ohio, in 1881

Geography

Washington County, OH, lies in Appalachian southeastern Ohio along the Ohio River. It is one of the original counties of Ohio and at that time stretched from the Ohio River in the south to Lake Erie in the north. The county seat is Marietta, where the Muskingum River flows into the Ohio. The other city is Belpre. The current 22 townships are Adams, Aurelius, Barlow, Belpre, Decatur, Dunham, Fairfield, Fearing, Grandview, Independence, Lawrence, Liberty, Ludlow, Marietta, Muskingum, Newport, Palmer, Salem, Warren, Waterford, Watertown, and Wesley. Former townships include, among others, Middletown, Jolly, Newton, Plainfield, Roxbury, Tuskarora, Union, and Wooster.

Washington County, OH, is bordered on the west by Athens County, on the northwest by Morgan County, on the north by Noble County, and on the northeast by Monroe County. Across the Ohio River it is bordered on the south mostly by Wood County, West Virginia, and slightly by Pleasants County, West Virginia, to the east.

The Ohio, Muskingum, and Little Hocking Rivers, forests, coal mines, farming bottoms, hilly livestock grazing areas, and petroleum have supported many of Washington County's occupations. Together with the Yankee merchants and craftsmen who were the first English settlers in Marietta, English farmers in Aurelius Township, German farmers in Fearing and Salem Townships and laborers in Marietta, Scottish sheep farmers in Barlow and Warren Townships, Irish farmers in Ludlow Township and railroad workers in Marietta, Jewish merchants and professionals in Marietta, African-American farmers and laborers in Decatur, Fairfield, and Wesley Townships, and Belgian glass workers in Marietta are among the settlement groups that have contributed to the economy of Washington County, Ohio.

Washington County, Ohio, in 1810

Maps of Ohio and Washington County, Ohio

Interactive Historical Ohio County Boundaries

1785 map of Northwest Territory (northwest of the Ohio River)

1822 Map of Ohio from LeSage's Atlas

1836 Map of Ohio from New Universal Atlas

1858 Lorey map of Washington County, Ohio

1871 Map of the Marietta and Pittsburgh Railroad

1877 map of Marietta and Harmar, Ohio (may require turning off popup blocker)

1877 maps of Ohio River and Ohio River towns

1895 Map of Washington County, Ohio

1914 Map of Washington County, Ohio

2009 Road Map of Washington County, Ohio, from ODOT

2009 Water Resource Map of Washington County, Ohio, from ODNR

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