Brilliant is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

(CDP) in eastern Jefferson County,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, along the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

. It was named after the Brilliant Glass factory that once was located in the town. The population was 1,317 as of the 2020 census. It is part of the

Weirton–Steubenville metropolitan area The Weirton–Steubenville, WV–OH Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as the Upper Ohio Valley, is a metropolitan statistical area consisting of two counties in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia and one in Ohio, anchored by the cities ...

. Brilliant was formerly incorporated as a village, but it disincorporated on November 24, 1993.

History

Brilliant was laid out in 1819 by western Virginia statesman

Philip Doddridge Philip Doddridge D.D. (26 June 1702 – 26 October 1751) was an English Nonconformist (specifically, Congregationalist) minister, educator, and hymnwriter. Early life Philip Doddridge was born in London the last of the twenty children of D ...

under the name "Philipsburgh". The location was considered significant to commerce as it was the convergence of many roads in close proximity to the

and parallel to the Wellsburg wharf. A new addition was laid out in 1836 named "La Grange", a name also adopted by the railway station in 1856. In 1880, the Brilliant Glass Company was established and a glass factory was built at La Grange. The town later adopted the name of the glass company and was incorporated as "Brilliant", changing the titles of the railway station and post office. The

Cardinal Power Plant Cardinal Power Plant is a 1.8-gigawatt (1,800 MW) coal power plant located south of Brilliant, Ohio in Jefferson County, Ohio. The power plant has three units. Cardinal is co-owned with Unit 1 owned by American Electric Power's (AEP) subsidiary, A ...

is located south of Brilliant. It commenced operations in 1967.

Geography

Brilliant is in northeastern Wells Township, along the

south of

Steubenville Steubenville is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Ohio River 33 miles west of Pittsburgh, it had a population of 18,161 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The city's name is deri ...

Ohio State Route 7 State Route 7 (SR 7), formerly known as Inter-county Highway 7 until 1921 and State Highway 7 in 1922, is a north–south state highway in the southern and eastern portions of the U.S. state of Ohio. At about in length, it is the longest s ...

, a four-lane freeway, passes through the southeast side of the community, leading north (upriver) to Steubenville and south to

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnoc ...

, across the river from

Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located almost entirely in Ohio County, of which it is the county seat, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and also contains a tiny portion extending ...

. According to the 2010 census, the Brilliant CDP has a total area of , of which (or 98.87%) are land and (or 0.56%) are water.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by relatively high temperatures and evenly distributed precipitation throughout the year. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Brilliant has a

Humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Demographics

Education

Public education in the community of Brilliant is provided by the Buckeye Local School District. Public high school students in the city attend Buckeye Local High School; Brilliant High School formerly served as the high school in the city. Brilliant has a public library, a branch of the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County.

References

{{Authority control Former municipalities in Ohio Census-designated places in Jefferson County, Ohio Ohio populated places on the Ohio River Populated places disestablished in 1993