Minford is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), 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 count ...

located on the border of

Harrison Harrison may refer to: People * Harrison (name) * Harrison family of Virginia, United States Places In Australia: * Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin In Canada: * Inukjuak, Quebec, or " ...

and

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

townships in northeastern

Scioto County Scioto County is a county located along the Ohio River in the south central region of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 74,008. Its county seat is Portsmouth. The county was founded March 24, 1804, from Adams ...

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, about northeast of the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 693.

History

The community was originally formed as Harrisonville in 1859, but its name was changed to Minford in 1917 due to the construction of the

C&O Railroad The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond t ...

, as there was another town along the railroad already named Harrisonville. The present name is in honor of the local Minford family.

Geography

Physical geography

Minford is situated in rolling hills of the

Appalachian Plateau The Appalachian Plateau is a series of rugged dissected plateaus located on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains. The Appalachian Mountains are a mountain range that run down the Eastern United States. The Appalachian Plateau is the nor ...

and the

Unglaciated Allegheny Plateau The Unglaciated Allegheny Plateau is located in an arc around southeastern Ohio, West Virginia, into western Pennsylvania and a small portion of southwestern New York State. This area is a dissected plateau, characterized by sandstone, shale, an ...

. These Appalachian foothills of southeastern Ohio, especially in nearby Shawnee State Park and Forest, have been nicknamed the "Little Smokies".

Rivers

The Little Scioto River runs adjacent (east) of Minford and continues southward through the Minford area toward Sciotoville where it flows into the Ohio River.

Climate

The area consists of

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

forests and is within the

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests The Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests is an ecoregion of the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund. It consists of mesophytic plants west of the Appalachian Mountains in the Southeastern United Sta ...

. Being located in extreme southern Ohio, approximately from the Ohio River and Ohio-

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

border, the climate of Minford lies in the transitional/borderline region of two climate zones, the

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

and the humid subtropical climate. However, the climate is closer to the

. Minford's weather is characterized by warm humid summers, cold wet winters, with brisk temperate spring and fall seasons. Rainfall amounts peak in late spring through summer (May to August).

Coordinates and distance to cities

Minford is located at , which is approximately northeast of

, northwest of Huntington, West Virginia, and about south of

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

Location and referencing

The center of Minford is located at the junction of State Route 335 and State Route 139. However, the Minford Local School District covers most of Madison and Harrison townships, including places of different ZIP codes.

Zip codes

Minford's post office has the ZIP code of 45653. Other ZIP codes in Harrison and Madison Townships include 45648 ( Lucasville), 45662 (Portsmouth), and 45694 ( Wheelersburg).

Demographics

Transportation

State Route 139

Minford's postal and office business district lies on South SR 139. New Boston is just south, and

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

is just a little over north. SR 335 intersects with the route.

State Route 335

Minford's business and school district lies on South SR 335. Sciotoville is south, and SR 32 is just a little over north. SR 139 intersects with the route, as do Lucasville-Minford Road and Bennett Road.

Lucasville-Minford Road

Lucasville-Minford Road is Minford's major truck and countryside route. It carries truckers and commuters from

US 23 } U.S. Route 23 or U.S. Highway 23 (US 23) is a major north–south U.S. Highway between Jacksonville, Florida, and Mackinaw City, Michigan. It is an original 1926 route which originally reached only as far south as Portsmouth, Ohio, and has sinc ...

in Lucasville to SR 335 in Mule Town towards Minford to

US 52 U.S. Route 52 (US 52) is a major United States highway in the central United States that extends from the northern to southeastern region of the United States. Contrary to most other even-numbered U.S. Highways, US 52 primarily follows ...

in Sciotoville. It becomes SR 728 in Valley Township near the

Southern Ohio Correctional Facility The Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (commonly referred to as Lucasville) is a maximum security prison located just outside Lucasville in Scioto County, Ohio. The prison was constructed in 1972. As of 2022, the warden is Donald Redwood. The ...

to the road's terminus at US 23.

High Street

High Street is a subsidiary route that carries truckers and commuters from SR 335 to Lucasville-Minford Road in Mule Town. The route is just over long. SR 139 intersects with the route.

Postal, telephone, cable and internet services

Post office

Minford is the home of Scioto County's fifth post office. However, the original building is no longer standing; a new post office was recently constructed at that location in 2000. The post office sits on the corner of SR 139 and West Street, with High Street on the east side.

Telephone, cable and internet services

Minford has its ow
telephone company
for residences in Minford and Stockdale, that offer
Dial-Up internet access
to all of Scioto County an

to Minford and Stockdale subscribers only. Currently, the phone company is offering cable television services and fiber optic internet. The phone company sits on the corner of SR 139 and High Street.

Notable persons

Minford natives include

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

golfer Bob Sowards and

WSAZ-TV WSAZ-TV (channel 3) is a television station licensed to Huntington, West Virginia, United States, affiliated with NBC. It serves the Charleston–Huntington market, the second-largest television market (in terms of geographical area) east of t ...

sportscaster Bob Bowen, who coined the phrase "Mighty Minford Falcons". Roy Rogers grew up there and went to Minford school around 1920 or 25.

Schools

Numerous schoolhouses were in the area through its history, including the old Sunshine School as well as the Harrisonville School in 1878. Today, the Minford area is served by the Minford Local School District. The first "Minford" school opened in 1923, located on West Street. This building was later used as the Minford Middle School until its demolition in 2005 after the construction of the new buildings for Minford Local School District. The new schools were built between the years of 1998-2004.

Minford High School Minford High School (MHS) is a rural, public, high school located in Minford, Ohio in Scioto County in Southern Ohio Appalachian Ohio is a bioregion and political unit in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio, characterized by the ...

was completed in 2001 and the elementary/middle school was completed in 2004.

Local fire department and EMS

The Minford

Volunteer Fire Department A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respond ...

and Minford EMS Squad are located on State Route 335 next to the Minford Kwik Stop. The fire department was founded in 1944 and its current chief, is Chief James Shoemaker.

Portsmouth bypass freeway

A Portsmouth bypass, State Route 823, was built around Portsmouth. The bypass is a four-lane

limited-access A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway, expressway, limited access freeway, and partial controlled access highway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which ...

divided highway that passes adjacent to Minford. The

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

bypasses the cities of

and New Boston by connecting

U.S. Route 23 } U.S. Route 23 or U.S. Highway 23 (US 23) is a major north–south U.S. Highway between Jacksonville, Florida, and Mackinaw City, Michigan. It is an original 1926 route which originally reached only as far south as Portsmouth, Ohio, and has sinc ...

north of Lucasville to U.S. Route 52 east of New Boston and west of Wheelersburg. There are two interchanges in Minford: one near the Greater Portsmouth Regional Airport on State Route 335, and one on Lucasville-Minford Road near Rases Mountain Drive.Official Portsmouth Bypass website, ODOT

References

{{Scioto County, Ohio Census-designated places in Scioto County, Ohio