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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 Illinois. It is the third largest river by discharge volume in the United States and the largest tributary by volume of the north-south flowing Mississippi River that divides the eastern from western United States. It is also the 6th oldest river on the North American continent. The river flows through or along the
border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ca ...
of six states, and its drainage basin includes parts of 14 states. Through its largest tributary, the
Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, ...
, the basin includes several states of the southeastern U.S. It is the source of drinking water for five million people. The lower Ohio River just below Louisville is obstructed by rapids known as the
Falls of the Ohio The Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area is a national, bi-state area on the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky in the United States, administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Federal status was awarded in 1981. The fa ...
where the elevation falls in restricting larger commercial navigation, although in the 18th and early 19th century its three deepest channels could be traversed by a wide variety of craft then in use. Completion of the
Louisville and Portland Canal The Louisville and Portland Canal was a canal bypassing the Falls of the Ohio River at Louisville, Kentucky. The Falls form the only barrier to navigation between the origin of the Ohio at Pittsburgh and the port of New Orleans on the Gulf of Me ...
in 1830 (and later the
McAlpine Locks and Dam The McAlpine Locks and Dam are a set of locks and a hydroelectric dam at the Falls of the Ohio River at Louisville, Kentucky. They are located at mile point 606.8, and control a long navigation pool. The locks and their associated canal were th ...
), bypassing the rapids, allowed even larger commercial and modern navigation from the
Forks of the Ohio Point State Park (locally known as The Point) is a Pennsylvania state park on in Downtown Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, forming the Ohio River. Built on land acqu ...
at Pittsburgh to the Port of New Orleans at the mouth of the Mississippi on the Gulf of Mexico. The name "Ohio" comes from the
Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extra ...
, , lit. "Good River". In his ''
Notes on the State of Virginia ''Notes on the State of Virginia'' (1785) is a book written by the American statesman, philosopher, and planter Thomas Jefferson. He completed the first version in 1781 and updated and enlarged the book in 1782 and 1783. It originated in Jeffers ...
'' published in 1781–82, Thomas Jefferson stated: "The Ohio is the most beautiful river on earth. Its current gentle, waters clear, and bosom smooth and unbroken by rocks and rapids, a single instance only excepted" (though Jefferson himself had not seen the Ohio) In the late 18th century, the river was the southern boundary of the Northwest Territory. It became a primary transportation route for pioneers during the westward expansion of the early U.S. Today, the Ohio River is one of the most polluted rivers in the United States. The river is sometimes considered as the western extension of the Mason–Dixon Line that divided Pennsylvania from Maryland, and thus part of the border between free and slave territory, and between the
Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...
and Southern United States or Upper South. Where the river was narrow, it was crossed by thousands of slaves escaping to the North for freedom; many were helped by free blacks and whites of the Underground Railroad resistance movement. The Ohio River is a climatic transition area, as its water runs along the periphery of the humid subtropical and
humid continental 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 freezin ...
climate areas. It is inhabited by fauna and flora of both climates. In winter, it regularly freezes over at Pittsburgh but rarely farther south toward Cincinnati and
Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...
. Further down the river in places like
Paducah Paducah ( ) is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky. The largest city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers, halfway between St. Louis, Missou ...
and
Owensboro Owensboro is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Daviess County, Kentucky, United States. It is the fourth-largest city in the state by population. Owensboro is located on U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 165 about southwest of Loui ...
, Kentucky, closer to its confluence with the Mississippi, the Ohio is ice-free year-round.


Etymology

The name "Ohio" comes from the Seneca language (an Iroquoian language), (roughly pronounced oh-hee-yoh, with the vowel in "hee" held longer), a proper name derived from ("good river"), therefore literally translating to "Good River". "Great river" and "large creek" have also been given as translations. Native Americans, including the Lenni Lenape and Iroquois, considered the Ohio and Allegheny rivers as the same, as is suggested by a New York State road sign on Interstate 86 that refers to the Allegheny River also as . Similarly, the Geographic Names Information System lists ''O-hee-yo'' and ''O-hi-o'' as variant names for the Allegheny. An earlier Miami-Illinois language name was also applied to the Ohio River, ("river of the Mosopelea" tribe). Shortened in the
Shawnee language The Shawnee language is a Central Algonquian language spoken in parts of central and northeastern Oklahoma by the Shawnee people. It was originally spoken by these people in a broad territory throughout the Eastern United States, mostly north of ...
to , or , the name evolved through variant forms such as "Polesipi", "Peleson", "Pele Sipi" and "Pere Sipi", and eventually stabilized to the variant spellings "Pelisipi", "Pelisippi" and "Pellissippi". Originally applied just to the Ohio River, the "Pelisipi" name later was variously applied back and forth between the Ohio River and the
Clinch River The Clinch River is a river that flows southwest for more than through the Great Appalachian Valley in the U.S. states of Virginia and Tennessee, gathering various tributaries, including the Powell River, before joining the Tennessee River in Ki ...
in Virginia and Tennessee. In his original draft of the
Land Ordinance of 1784 The Ordinance of 1784 (enacted April 23, 1784) called for the land in the recently created United States which was located west of the Appalachian Mountains, north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River to be divided into separate s ...
, Thomas Jefferson proposed a new state called "Pelisipia", to the south of the Ohio River, which would have included parts of present-day Eastern Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia.


History


Precolumbian

The river had great significance in the history of the Native Americans, as numerous prehistoric and historic civilizations formed along its valley. For thousands of years, Native Americans used the river as a major transportation and trading route. Its waters connected communities. In the five centuries before European colonization, the Mississippian culture built numerous regional
chiefdom A chiefdom is a form of hierarchical political organization in non-industrial societies usually based on kinship, and in which formal leadership is monopolized by the legitimate senior members of select families or 'houses'. These elites form a ...
s and major earthwork mounds in the Ohio Valley like the
Angel Mounds Angel Mounds State Historic Site ( 12 VG 1), an expression of the Mississippian culture, is an archaeological site managed by the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites that includes more than of land about southeast of present-day Evansville, ...
near
Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...
as well as in the Mississippi Valley and the Southeast. The historic
Osage The Osage Nation, a Native American tribe in the United States, is the source of most other terms containing the word "osage". Osage can also refer to: * Osage language, a Dhaegin language traditionally spoken by the Osage Nation * Osage (Unicode b ...
, Omaha, Ponca, and Kaw peoples lived in the Ohio Valley. Under pressure over the fur trade from the Iroquois nations to the northeast, they migrated west of the Mississippi River in the 17th century to the territory now defined as Missouri,
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage la ...
, and Oklahoma.


European discovery

Several accounts exist of the discovery and traversal of the Ohio River by Europeans in the latter half of the 17th century: Virginian colonist
Abraham Wood Abraham Wood (1610–1682), sometimes referred to as "General" or "Colonel" Wood, was an English fur trader, militia officer, politician and explorer of 17th century colonial Virginia. Wood helped build and maintained Fort Henry at the falls of ...
's trans-Appalachian expeditions between 1654 and 1664; Frenchman
Robert de La Salle The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
's putative Ohio expedition of 1669; and two expeditions of Virginians sponsored by Colonel Wood: the Batts and Fallam expedition of 1671, and the Needham and Arthur expedition of 1673-74. The first known European to traverse the length of the river, from the headwaters of the Allegheny to its mouth on the Mississippi, was a Dutchman from New York,
Arnout Viele Arnout or Arnoud is a Dutch language masculine given name equivalent to Arnold. Notable persons with that name include: Persons with the given name * Arnout II, Count of Aarschot, 12th-century count of Aarschot, Flanders * Arnout III, Count of ...
, in 1692.


Exploration and settlement

In 1749, the Ohio Company was established in the
Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th centuri ...
to settle and trade in the Ohio River region. Exploration of the territory and trade with the Indians in the region near the Forks brought white colonists from both Pennsylvania and Virginia across the mountains, and both colonies claimed the territory. The movement across the Allegheny Mountains of Anglo-American settlers and the claims of the area near modern-day Pittsburgh led to conflict with the French, who had forts in the Ohio River Valley. This conflict was called the French and Indian War, and would merge into the global Anglo-French struggle, the Seven Years' War. In 1763, following its defeat in the war, France ceded its area east of the Mississippi River to
Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
and its area west of the Mississippi River to Spain in the
1763 Treaty of Paris The Treaty of Paris, also known as the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763 by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement, after Great Britain and Prussia's victory over France and Spain during the ...
. The 1768
Treaty of Fort Stanwix The Treaty of Fort Stanwix was a treaty signed between representatives from the Iroquois and Great Britain (accompanied by negotiators from New Jersey, Virginia and Pennsylvania) in 1768 at Fort Stanwix. It was negotiated between Sir William Jo ...
with several tribes opened Kentucky to colonial settlement and established the Ohio River as a southern boundary for American Indian territory. In 1774 the
Quebec Act The Quebec Act 1774 (french: Acte de Québec), or British North America (Quebec) Act 1774, was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which set procedures of governance in the Province of Quebec. One of the principal components of the Act w ...
restored the land east of the Mississippi River and north of the Ohio River to Quebec, in effect making the Ohio the southern boundary of Canada. This appeased
French Canadians French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fre ...
in Quebec but angered the colonists of the
Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th centuri ...
.
Lord Dunmore's War Lord Dunmore's War—or Dunmore's War—was a 1774 conflict between the Colony of Virginia and the Shawnee and Mingo American Indian nations. The Governor of Virginia during the conflict was John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore—Lord Dunmore. He a ...
south of the Ohio river also contributed to cession of land north to Quebec to prevent colonial expansion onto Native American territory. During the Revolutionary War. in 1776 the British military engineer John Montrésor created a map of the river showing the strategic location of Fort Pitt, including specific navigational information about the Ohio River's rapids and tributaries in that area. However, the 1783 Treaty of Paris gave the entire Ohio Valley to the United States, and numerous white settlers entered the region. The economic connection of the Ohio Country to the East was significantly increased in 1818 when the National Road being built westward from
Cumberland, Maryland Cumberland is a U.S. city in and the county seat of Allegany County, Maryland. It is the primary city of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 19,076. Located on the Potomac River, ...
, reached
Wheeling, 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 ...
, (now West Virginia), providing an easier overland connection from the
Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...
to the Ohio River. The Wheeling Suspension Bridge was built over the river at Wheeling from 1847 to 1849, making the trip west easier. For a brief time, until 1851, it was the world's largest suspension bridge. The bridge survived the American Civil War, after having been improved in 1859. It was renovated again in 1872, and remains in use as the oldest vehicular suspension bridge in the U.S.
Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...
was founded in 1779 at the only major natural navigational barrier on the river, the
Falls of the Ohio The Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area is a national, bi-state area on the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky in the United States, administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Federal status was awarded in 1981. The fa ...
. The Falls were a series of rapids where the river dropped in a stretch of about . In this area, the river flowed over hard, fossil-rich beds of limestone. The first locks on the river the
Louisville and Portland Canal The Louisville and Portland Canal was a canal bypassing the Falls of the Ohio River at Louisville, Kentucky. The Falls form the only barrier to navigation between the origin of the Ohio at Pittsburgh and the port of New Orleans on the Gulf of Me ...
were built between 1825 and 1830 to circumnavigate the falls. Fears that Louisville's transshipment industry would collapse proved ill-founded: but the increasing size of steamships and barges on the river meant that the outdated locks could serve only the smallest vessels until well after the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policie ...
when improvements were made. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers improvements were expanded again in the 1960s, forming the present-day
McAlpine Locks and Dam The McAlpine Locks and Dam are a set of locks and a hydroelectric dam at the Falls of the Ohio River at Louisville, Kentucky. They are located at mile point 606.8, and control a long navigation pool. The locks and their associated canal were th ...
.


Nineteenth century

During the nineteenth century, emigrants from Virginia, North Carolina and Kentucky traveled by the river and settled along its northern bank. Known as butternuts, they formed the dominant culture in the southern portions of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois with a society that was primarily
Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...
in culture. Largely devoted to agricultural pursuits, they shipped much of their produce along the river to ports such as Cincinnati. Because the Ohio River flowed westward, it became a convenient means of westward movement by pioneers traveling from western Pennsylvania. After reaching the mouth of the Ohio, settlers would travel north on the Mississippi River to
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
. There, some continued on up the Missouri River, some up the Mississippi, and some farther west over land routes. In the early 19th century,
river pirate A river pirate is a pirate who operates along a river. The term has been used to describe many different kinds of pirate groups who carry out riverine attacks in Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, and South America. They are usually prosecuted ...
s such as
Samuel Mason Samuel Ross Mason, also spelled Meason (November 8, 1739 – 1803), was a Virginia militia captain, on the American western frontier, during the American Revolutionary War. After the war, he became the leader of the Mason Gang, a criminal gang o ...
, operating out of Cave-In-Rock, Illinois, waylaid travelers on their way down the river. They killed travelers, stealing their goods and scuttling their boats. The folktales about Mike Fink recall the keelboats used for commerce in the early days of American settlement. The Ohio River boatmen inspired performer
Dan Emmett Daniel Decatur Emmett (October 29, 1815June 28, 1904) was an American songwriter, entertainer, and founder of the first troupe of the blackface minstrel tradition, the Virginia Minstrels. He is most remembered as the composer of the song "Dixie" ...
, who in 1843 wrote the song "
The Boatman's Dance "The Boatman's Dance" is a minstrel song credited to Dan Emmett in 1843. In 1950 it was revived and arranged by Aaron Copland as part of his set of ''Old American Songs''. It is a celebration of the Ohio River boatmen, bawdy and wily, and is ea ...
". Trading boats and ships traveled south on the Mississippi to New Orleans, and sometimes beyond to the Gulf of Mexico and other ports in the Americas and Europe. This provided a much-needed export route for goods from the west since the trek east over the
Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...
was long and arduous. The need for access to the port of New Orleans by settlers in the Ohio Valley is one of the factors that led to the United States' Louisiana Purchase in 1803.


Free states border

Because the river is the southern border of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, it was part of the border between
free states and slave states In the United States before 1865, a slave state was a state in which slavery and the internal or domestic slave trade were legal, while a free state was one in which they were not. Between 1812 and 1850, it was considered by the slave states ...
in the years before the American Civil War. The expression "sold down the river" originated as a lament of Upper South slaves, especially from Kentucky, who were shipped via the Ohio and Mississippi to cotton and sugar plantations in the Deep South. Changes in crops cultivated in the Upper South resulted in slaves available to be sold to the South, where the expansion of cotton plantations was doing very well. Invention of the
cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); ...
made cultivation of short-staple cotton profitable throughout the Black Belt of this region. Before and during the Civil War, the Ohio River was called the " River Jordan" by slaves crossing it to escape to freedom in the North via the Underground Railroad. More escaping slaves, estimated in the thousands, made their perilous journey north to freedom across the Ohio River than anywhere else across the north-south frontier. Harriet Beecher Stowe's '' Uncle Tom's Cabin'', the bestselling novel that fueled abolitionist work, was the best known of the anti-slavery novels that portrayed such escapes across the Ohio. The times have been expressed by 20th-century novelists as well, such as the Nobel Prize-winning Toni Morrison, whose novel ''
Beloved Beloved may refer to: Books * ''Beloved'' (novel), a 1987 novel by Toni Morrison * ''The Beloved'' (Faulkner novel), a 2012 novel by Australian author Annah Faulkner *''Beloved'', a 1993 historical romance about Zenobia, by Bertrice Small Film ...
'' was adapted as a film of the same name. She also composed the libretto for the opera ''
Margaret Garner Margaret Garner, called "Peggy" (died 1858), was an enslaved African-American woman in pre-Civil War America who killed her own daughter rather than allow the child to be returned to slavery. Garner and her family had escaped enslavement in J ...
'' (2005), based on the life and trial of an enslaved woman who escaped with her family across the river.


State border dispute

The colonial charter for Virginia defined its territory as extending to the north shore of the Ohio, so that the riverbed was "owned" by Virginia. Where the river serves as a boundary between states today, Congress designated the entire river to belong to the states on the east and south, i.e., West Virginia and Kentucky at the time of admission to the Union, that were divided from Virginia. Thus
Wheeling Island Wheeling Island is the most populated island in the Ohio River. It lies within the city of Wheeling in Ohio County, West Virginia, in the United States. The 2000 census showed a resident population of 3,142 people on the island, which has a la ...
, the largest inhabited island in the Ohio River, belongs to West Virginia, although it is closer to the Ohio shore than to the West Virginia shore. Kentucky sued the state of Indiana in the early 1980s because of their construction of the never-completed
Marble Hill Nuclear Power Plant Marble Hill Nuclear Power Station was an unfinished nuclear power plant in Saluda Township, Jefferson County, near Hanover, Indiana, USA. In 1984, the Public Service Company of Indiana announced it was abandoning the half-finished nuclear power ...
in Indiana, which would have discharged its waste water into the river. This would have adversely affected Kentucky's water supplies. The
U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
held that Kentucky's jurisdiction (and, implicitly, that of West Virginia) extended only to the low-water mark of 1793 (important because the river has been extensively dammed for navigation so that the present river bank is north of the old low-water mark.) Similarly, in the 1990s, Kentucky challenged Illinois's right to collect taxes on a riverboat casino docked in Metropolis, citing its own control of the entire river. A private casino riverboat that docked in
Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...
, on the Ohio River opened about the same time. Although such boats cruised on the Ohio River in an oval pattern up and down, the state of Kentucky soon protested. Other states had to limit their cruises to going forward, then reversing and going backward on the Indiana shore only. Both Illinois and Indiana have long since changed their laws to allow riverboat casinos to be permanently docked, with Illinois changing in 1999 and Indiana in 2002.


Bridge collapse

The Silver Bridge at
Point Pleasant, West Virginia Point Pleasant is a city in and the county seat of Mason County, West Virginia, United States, at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers. The population was 4,101 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Point Pleasant, ...
collapsed into the river on December 15, 1967. The collapse killed 46 people who had been crossing when the bridge failed. The bridge had been built in 1929, and by 1967 was carrying too heavy a load for its design. The bridge was rebuilt about one mile downstream and in service as the
Silver Memorial Bridge The Silver Bridge was an eyebar-chain suspension bridge built in 1928 and named for the color of its aluminum paint. The bridge carried U.S. Route 35 over the Ohio River, connecting Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and Gallipolis, Ohio. On Dec ...
in 1969.


Conservation area

In the early 1980s, the
Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area The Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area is a national, bi-state area on the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky in the United States, administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Federal status was awarded in 1981. The fa ...
was established at
Clarksville, Indiana Clarksville is a town in Clark County, Indiana, United States, along the Ohio River and is a part of the Louisville Metropolitan area. The population was 22,333 at the 2020 census. The town was founded in 1783 by early resident George Rogers Cla ...
.


Ecology

The Ohio River as a whole is ranked as the most polluted river in the United States, based on 2009 and 2010 data. The more industrial and regional West Virginia/Pennsylvania tributary, the Monongahela River, ranked 17th for water pollution, behind 16 other American rivers. The Ohio again ranked as the most polluted in 2013, and has been the most polluted river since at least 2001, according to the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO). The Commission found that 92% of toxic discharges were nitrates, including farm runoff and waste water from industrial processes such as steel production. The Commission also noted mercury pollution as an ongoing concern, citing a 500% increase in mercury discharges between 2007 and 2013. For several decades beginning in the 1950s, the Ohio River was polluted with hundreds of thousands of pounds of
PFOA Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA; conjugate base perfluorooctanoate; also known colloquially as C8, for its 8 carbon chain structure) is a perfluorinated carboxylic acid produced and used worldwide as an industrial surfactant in chemical processes a ...
, a fluoride-based chemical used in making teflon, among other things, by the DuPont chemical company from an outflow pipe at its Parkersburg, West Virginia, facility.


Economy

The Ohio River is extensively industrialized and populated. Regular barge traffic carries cargoes of oil, steel and other industrial goods produced in the region. Major cities located along the northern and southern banks of the river include Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Louisville, Kentucky;
Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...
; and Cincinnati, Ohio.


Geography and hydrography

The combined Allegheny-Ohio river is long and carries the largest volume of water of any tributary of the Mississippi. The Indians and early European explorers and settlers of the region often considered the Allegheny to be part of the Ohio. The
forks In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods eit ...
(the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers at what is now Pittsburgh) were considered a strategic military location by colonial French and British, and later independent American military authorities. The Ohio River is formed by the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers at what is now Point State Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From there, it flows northwest through Allegheny and
Beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are ...
counties, before making an abrupt turn to the south-southwest at the West Virginia–Ohio–Pennsylvania triple-state line (near
East Liverpool, Ohio East Liverpool is a city in southeastern Columbiana County, Ohio, United States. The population was 9,958 at the 2020 census. It lies along the Ohio River within the Upper Ohio Valley and borders Pennsylvania to the east and West Virginia to t ...
;
Chester, West Virginia Chester is a city in northern Hancock County, West Virginia, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 2,214 at the 2020 census. Sharing a border with Ohio and lying about west of Pennsylvania, Chester is the northernmost city in ...
; and
Ohioville, Pennsylvania Ohioville is a borough in western Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,345 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. History Ohioville was originally Ohio Township, formed in 1805 from parts ...
). From there, it forms the border between West Virginia and Ohio, upstream of
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 ...
. The river follows a roughly southwest and then west-northwest course until Cincinnati, before bending to a west-southwest course for most of the remainder of its length. The course forms the northern borders of West Virginia and Kentucky; and the southern borders of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, until it joins the Mississippi River at the city of
Cairo, Illinois Cairo ( ) is the southernmost city in Illinois and the county seat of Alexander County. The city is located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Fort Defiance, a Civil War camp, was built here in 1862 by Union General Ulysse ...
. Where the Ohio joins the Mississippi is the lowest elevation in the state of Illinois, at . The Mississippi River flows to the Gulf of Mexico on the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...
. Among rivers wholly or mostly in the United States, the Ohio is the second largest by discharge volume and the tenth longest and has the eighth largest drainage basin. It serves to separate the Midwestern Great Lakes states from the Upper South states, which were historically border states in the Civil War. The Ohio River is a left (east) and the largest tributary by volume of the Mississippi River in the United States. At the
confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...
, the Ohio is considerably bigger than the Mississippi, measured by long-term mean discharge. The Ohio River at Cairo is 281,500 cu ft/s (7,960 m3/s); and the Mississippi River at Thebes, Illinois, which is upstream of the confluence, is 208,200 cu ft/s (5,897 m3/s). The Ohio River flow is greater than that of the Mississippi River, so hydrologically the Ohio River is the main stream of the river system.


River depth

The Ohio River is a naturally shallow river that was artificially deepened by a series of
dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...
s. The natural depth of the river varied from about . The dams raise the water level and have turned the river largely into a series of reservoirs, eliminating shallow stretches and allowing for commercial navigation. From its origin to Cincinnati, the average depth is approximately . The largest immediate drop in water level is below the McAlpine Locks and Dam at the
Falls of the Ohio The Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area is a national, bi-state area on the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky in the United States, administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Federal status was awarded in 1981. The fa ...
at Louisville, Kentucky, where flood stage is reached when the water reaches on the lower gauge. However, the river's deepest point is on the western side of Louisville, Kentucky. From Louisville, the river loses depth very gradually until its confluence with the Mississippi at
Cairo, Illinois Cairo ( ) is the southernmost city in Illinois and the county seat of Alexander County. The city is located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Fort Defiance, a Civil War camp, was built here in 1862 by Union General Ulysse ...
, where it has an approximate depth of . Water levels for the Ohio River from Smithland Lock and Dam upstream to Pittsburgh are predicted daily by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Ohio River Forecast Center. The water depth predictions are relative to each local flood plain based upon predicted rainfall in the Ohio River basin in five reports as follows: * Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to
Hannibal Locks and Dam The Hannibal Locks and Dam are a United States Army Corps of Engineers concrete locks and lift gate dam, located at river mile marker 126.4 on the Ohio River at Hannibal, Ohio, and New Martinsville, West Virginia. The locks and dam were built t ...
, Ohio (including the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers) *
Willow Island Locks and Dam Willow Island Lock and Dam is the 7th Lock and dam on the Ohio River, located 162 miles downstream of Pittsburgh. There are two locks, one for commercial barge traffic that's 1,200 feet long by 110 feet wide, and the auxiliary lock is 600 feet lo ...
, Ohio, to
Greenup Lock and Dam Greenup Lock and Dam is the 11th Lock and dam on the Ohio River, located 341 miles downstream of Pittsburgh. There are 2 locks, one for commercial barge traffic that's 1,200 feet long by 110 feet wide, and the auxiliary lock is 600 feet long by 1 ...
, Kentucky (including the Kanawha River) * Portsmouth, Ohio, to Markland Locks and Dam, Kentucky *
McAlpine Locks and Dam The McAlpine Locks and Dam are a set of locks and a hydroelectric dam at the Falls of the Ohio River at Louisville, Kentucky. They are located at mile point 606.8, and control a long navigation pool. The locks and their associated canal were th ...
, Kentucky, to
Cannelton Locks and Dam The Cannelton Locks and Dam is a Tainter gate, tainter-gated dam with two Lock (water transport), locks on the Ohio River, on the border between the U.S. states of Indiana and Kentucky. The dam is southeast of Cannelton, Indiana. Construction of ...
, Indiana *
Newburgh Lock and Dam Newburgh Lock and Dam is the 16th lock and dam on the Ohio River, located down stream of Pittsburgh.There are two locks. The main lock for commercial barge traffic that is long by wide, and the auxiliary lock is by wide. History Newburgh Lock ...
, Indiana, to
Golconda, Illinois Golconda is a city in and the county seat of Pope County, Illinois, United States, located along the Ohio River. The population was 630 at the 2020 census. Most of the city is part of the Golconda Historic District. History The city is named af ...
The water levels for the Ohio River from Smithland Lock and Dam to Cairo, Illinois, are predicted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center. * Smithland Lock and Dam, Illinois, to
Cairo, Illinois Cairo ( ) is the southernmost city in Illinois and the county seat of Alexander County. The city is located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Fort Defiance, a Civil War camp, was built here in 1862 by Union General Ulysse ...


List of major tributaries

The largest tributaries of the Ohio by discharge volume are: *Tennessee River /sec *Cumberland River /sec *Wabash River /sec *Allegheny River /sec *Kanawha River /sec *Green River /sec *Monongahela River /sec *Kentucky River /sec *Muskingum River /sec *Scioto River /sec By drainage basin area, the largest tributaries are: *Tennessee River *Wabash River *Cumberland River *Kanawha River *Allegheny River *Green River *Muskingum River *Monongahela River *Kentucky River *Scioto River The largest tributaries by length are: *Cumberland River *Tennessee River *Wabash River *Green River *Allegheny River *Licking River . *Kentucky River *Scioto River *Great Miami River *Little Kanawha River Major tributaries of the river, in order from the head to the mouth of the Ohio, include: *
Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ) is a long headwater stream of the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania and New York. The Allegheny River runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border northwesterly into New York then in ...
– Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania * Monongahela River – Pittsburgh *
Saw Mill Run Saw Mill Run is a tributary of the Ohio River in Pennsylvania. It is an urban stream, and lies entirely within Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The stream enters the Ohio just downstream from the Forks of the Ohio in Pittsburgh, at a place that ...
– Pittsburgh *
Chartiers Creek Chartiers Creek is a tributary of the Ohio River in Western Pennsylvania in the United States. The creek was named after Peter Chartier, a trapper of French and Native American parentage who established a trading post at the mouth of the cre ...
– Pittsburgh * Montour Run –
Coraopolis, Pennsylvania Coraopolis () is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The population was 5,559 at the 2020 census. In 1940, the population peaked at 11,086. Coraopolis is located west of Pittsburgh along the Ohio River and to the east of the Pittsburg ...
* Beaver RiverRochester, Pennsylvania * Breezewood Creek –
Beaver, Pennsylvania Beaver is a borough in and the county seat of Beaver County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is located at the confluence of the Beaver and Ohio Rivers, approximately northwest of Pittsburgh. As of the 2020 census, the borough population ...
* Raccoon CreekCenter Township, Pennsylvania *
Little Beaver Creek Little Beaver Creek is a wild and scenic area in Ohio. The Little Beaver Creek watershed is located primarily in Columbiana County in eastern Ohio, and in portions of Carroll County, Mahoning County, and western Pennsylvania, draining approxi ...
East Liverpool, Ohio East Liverpool is a city in southeastern Columbiana County, Ohio, United States. The population was 9,958 at the 2020 census. It lies along the Ohio River within the Upper Ohio Valley and borders Pennsylvania to the east and West Virginia to t ...
* Wheeling Creek
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 ...
*
Middle Island Creek Middle Island Creek is a river, 77 miles (124 km) long, in northwestern West Virginia in the United States. It is a tributary of the Ohio River, draining an area of 565 square miles (1,463 km2) on the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau. It wa ...
St. Marys, West Virginia St. Marys is a city and the county seat of Pleasants County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,847 at the 2020 census. St. Marys was established in 1849 by Alexander Creel, who is said to have had a vision of Mary while pa ...
*
Little Muskingum River The Little Muskingum River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 65 mi (105 km) long, in southeast Ohio in the United States. It rises in the hill country of Monroe County, approximately 5 mi (8 km) northwest of the ...
– Ohio * Duck CreekMarietta, Ohio * Muskingum River – Marietta, Ohio * Little Kanawha RiverParkersburg, West Virginia * Hocking River
Hockingport, Ohio Hockingport is a census-designated place in southeastern Troy Township, Athens County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 212. It has a post office with the ZIP code 45739. It is located at the intersection of S ...
* Kanawha River
Point Pleasant, West Virginia Point Pleasant is a city in and the county seat of Mason County, West Virginia, United States, at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers. The population was 4,101 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Point Pleasant, ...
*
Guyandotte River The Guyandotte River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 166 mi (267 km) long, in southwestern West Virginia in the United States. It was named after the French term for the Wendat Native Americans. It drains an area of ...
Huntington, West Virginia * Big Sandy River – Kentucky-West Virginia border * Little Sandy River
Greenup, Kentucky Greenup is a home rule-class city located at the confluence of the Little Sandy River with the Ohio River in Greenup County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 1,188 at the 2010 census. Greenup is one of three county seats in the Com ...
* Little Scioto River
Sciotoville, Ohio Sciotoville is a neighborhood in the city of Portsmouth in Scioto County, Ohio. It is located at the intersection of U.S. 52 and State Route 335 between the village of New Boston and Wheelersburg in Scioto County along the northern bank of the ...
* Scioto RiverPortsmouth, Ohio * Kinniconick Creek –
Vanceburg, Kentucky Vanceburg is a home rule-class city in Lewis County, Kentucky, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 1,518 at the 2010 census and estimated in 2018 to be 1,395. It is the county seat of Lewis County. Vanceburg is part of the ...
* Little Miami RiverCincinnati, Ohio * Licking RiverNewport- Covington, Kentucky * Mill CreekCincinnati, Ohio *
Great Miami River The Great Miami River (also called the Miami River) (Shawnee: ''Msimiyamithiipi'') is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accesse ...
– Ohio-Indiana border * Kentucky River
Carrollton, Kentucky Carrollton is a home rule-class city in—and the county seat of— Carroll County, Kentucky, United States, at the confluence of the Ohio and Kentucky rivers. The population was 3,938 at the 2010 census. Geography Carrollton is located in nort ...
* Salt River
West Point, Kentucky West Point is a home rule-class city in Hardin County, Kentucky, United States, near the edge of Fort Knox military reservation on Dixie Highway. It is located in a former meander bend of the Ohio River. The population was 797 at the 2010 census ...
* Green River – near
Henderson, Kentucky Henderson is a home rule-class city along the Ohio River and is the county seat of Henderson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 28,757 at the 2010 U.S. census. It is part of the Evansville Metropolitan Area, locally known as the ...
* Wabash River – Indiana-Illinois-Kentucky border * Saline River – Illinois *
Cumberland River The Cumberland River is a major waterway of the Southern United States. The U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 8, 2011 river drains almost of southern Kentucky and ...
Smithland, Kentucky Smithland is a home rule-class city in Livingston County, Kentucky, United States, at the confluence of the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers. The population was 301 at the 2010 census, a drop from 401 in 2000. It is the county seat of Livingston Coun ...
*
Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, ...
Paducah, Kentucky * Cache River – Illinois


Drainage basin

The Ohio's drainage basin covers , encompassing the easternmost regions of the
Mississippi Basin The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
. The Ohio drains parts of 14 states in four regions. * Northeast **
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...
: a small area of the southern border along the headwaters of the Allegheny. ** Pennsylvania: a corridor from the southwestern corner to the north-central border. * Mid-Atlantic/Upper South ** Maryland: a small corridor along the Youghiogheny River on the western border. ** West Virginia: all but the Eastern Panhandle. ** Kentucky: all but a small part in the extreme west drained directly by the Mississippi. ** Tennessee: all but a small part in the extreme west drained directly by the Mississippi, and a very small area in the southeastern corner which is drained by the
Conasauga River The Conasauga River is a river that runs through southeast Tennessee and northwest Georgia. The Conasauga River is longU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 an ...
. ** Virginia: most of southwest Virginia. ** North Carolina: the western quarter. * Midwest ** Ohio: 80% (all except a northern strip bordering Lake Erie, and the northwest corner) ** Indiana: all but the northern area. ** Illinois: the southeast quarter. * Deep South **
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
: the far northwest corner. **
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...
: the northern portion. ** Mississippi: the northeast corner.


Climate transition zone

The Ohio River is a climatic transition area, as its water runs along the periphery of the
humid continental 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 freezin ...
and humid subtropical climate areas. It is inhabited by fauna and flora of both climates. In winter, it regularly freezes over at Pittsburgh but rarely farther south toward Cincinnati and
Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...
. At Paducah, Kentucky, in the south, at the Ohio's confluence with the Tennessee River, it is ice-free year-round. In the 21st century, with the 2016 update of climate zones, the humid subtropical zone has stretched across the river, into the southern portions of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.


Geology

From a geological standpoint, the Ohio River is young. Before the river was created, large parts of North America were covered by water forming a saltwater lake about 200 miles across and 400 miles in length. The
bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material (regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of bedro ...
of the Ohio Valley was mostly set during this time. The river formed on a piecemeal basis beginning between 2.5 and 3 million years ago. The movement of glaciers during the earliest
ice ages An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...
the contemporary river
drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess of water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils is good enough to prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic condition ...
s of the Kanawha,
Sandy Sandy may refer to: People and fictional characters *Sandy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Sandy (surname), a list of people * Sandy (singer), Brazilian singer and actress Sandy Leah Lima (born 1983) * (Sandy) ...
, Kentucky, Green,
Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 1974 ...
and Tennessee rivers northward created the Ohio system and the course of early
tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...
of the Ohio River, including the Monongahela and the Allegheny rivers, were set. The Teays River was the largest of these rivers. The modern Ohio River flows within segments of the ancient Teays. The ancient rivers were rearranged or consumed. The section of the river that runs southwest from Pittsburgh to
Cairo, Illinois Cairo ( ) is the southernmost city in Illinois and the county seat of Alexander County. The city is located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Fort Defiance, a Civil War camp, was built here in 1862 by Union General Ulysse ...
is around tens of thousands of years old.


Upper Ohio River

The upper Ohio River formed when one of the glacial lakes overflowed into a south-flowing tributary of the Teays River. Prior to that event, the north-flowing Steubenville River (no longer in existence) ended between
New Martinsville New Martinsville is a city in Wetzel County, West Virginia, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 5,186 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Wetzel County. Geography New Martinsville is located at (39.657465, -80.8 ...
and
Paden City, West Virginia Paden City is a city in Tyler and Wetzel counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia, along the Ohio River. It was founded in 1902. The population was 2,550 at the 2020 census. The town was named for Pennsylvania-born Obediah Paden (1755-1822), ...
. The south-flowing Marietta River (no longer in existence) ended between the present-day cities. The overflowing lake carved through the separating hill and connected the rivers. The floodwaters enlarged the small Marietta valley to a size more typical of a large river. The new large river subsequently drained glacial lakes and melting glaciers at the end of the ice ages. The valley grew during and following the ice age. Many small rivers were altered or abandoned after the upper Ohio River formed. Valleys of some abandoned rivers can still be seen on satellite and aerial images of the hills of Ohio and West Virginia between Marietta, Ohio, and Huntington, West Virginia.


Middle Ohio River

The middle Ohio River formed in a manner similar to that of the upper Ohio River. A north-flowing river was temporarily dammed by natural forces southwest of present-day
Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...
, creating a large lake until the dam burst. A new route was carved to the Mississippi. Eventually, the upper and middle sections combined to form what is essentially the modern Ohio River.


Cities and towns along the river

Along the banks of the Ohio are some of the largest cities in their respective states: Pittsburgh, the third largest city on the river and second-largest city in Pennsylvania; Cincinnati, the third-largest city in Ohio;
Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...
, the largest city on the river and in Kentucky;
Evansville Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...
, the third-largest city in Indiana;
Owensboro Owensboro is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Daviess County, Kentucky, United States. It is the fourth-largest city in the state by population. Owensboro is located on U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 165 about southwest of Loui ...
, the fourth-largest city in Kentucky; and three of the five largest cities in West Virginia— Huntington (second),
Parkersburg Parkersburg is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Ohio and Little Kanawha rivers, it is the state's fourth-largest city and the largest city in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna metrop ...
(fourth), and Wheeling (fifth). Only Illinois, among the border states, has no significant cities on the river. There are hundreds of other cities, towns, villages and unincorporated populated places on the river, most of them very small. Cities along the Ohio are also among the oldest cities in their respective states and among the oldest cities in the United States west of the
Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...
(by date of founding):
Old Shawneetown, Illinois Old Shawneetown is a village in Gallatin County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the village had a population of 193, down from 278 at the 2000 census. Located along the Ohio River, Shawneetown served as an important United States ...
, 1748; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1758;
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 ...
, 1769; Huntington, West Virginia, 1775; Louisville, Kentucky, 1779;
Clarksville, Indiana Clarksville is a town in Clark County, Indiana, United States, along the Ohio River and is a part of the Louisville Metropolitan area. The population was 22,333 at the 2020 census. The town was founded in 1783 by early resident George Rogers Cla ...
, 1783; Maysville, Kentucky, 1784;
Martin's Ferry, Ohio Martins Ferry is a city in Belmont County, Ohio, United States, on the Ohio River across from Wheeling, West Virginia. It is the largest city in Belmont County. The population was 6,915 as of the 2010 census. It is most known as the birth place o ...
, 1785; Marietta, Ohio, 1788; Cincinnati, Ohio, 1788;
Manchester, Ohio Manchester is a village in Manchester Township, Adams County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 2,023 at the 2010 census. History The community was originally founded in 1790 as Massie's Station for Nathaniel Mas ...
, 1790;
Beaver, Pennsylvania Beaver is a borough in and the county seat of Beaver County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is located at the confluence of the Beaver and Ohio Rivers, approximately northwest of Pittsburgh. As of the 2020 census, the borough population ...
, 1792; and
Golconda, Illinois Golconda is a city in and the county seat of Pope County, Illinois, United States, located along the Ohio River. The population was 630 at the 2020 census. Most of the city is part of the Golconda Historic District. History The city is named af ...
, 1798. Other cities of interest include
Cairo, Illinois Cairo ( ) is the southernmost city in Illinois and the county seat of Alexander County. The city is located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Fort Defiance, a Civil War camp, was built here in 1862 by Union General Ulysse ...
, at the confluence of the Ohio with the Mississippi River and the southernmost and westernmost city on the river; and
Beaver, Pennsylvania Beaver is a borough in and the county seat of Beaver County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is located at the confluence of the Beaver and Ohio Rivers, approximately northwest of Pittsburgh. As of the 2020 census, the borough population ...
, the site of colonial Fort McIntosh and the northernmost city on the river. It is 548 miles as the crow flies between Cairo and Pittsburgh, but 981 miles by water. Direct water travel over the length of the river is obstructed by the Falls of the Ohio just below Louisville, Kentucky. The
Ohio River Scenic Byway 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 ...
follows the Ohio River through Illinois, Indiana and Ohio ending at Steubenville, Ohio, on the river. Before there were cities, there were colonial forts. These forts played a dominant role in the French and Indian War, Northwest Indian War and pioneering settlement of Ohio Country. Many cities got their start at or adjacent to the forts. Most were abandoned by 1800. Forts along the Ohio river include Fort Pitt (Pennsylvania),
Fort McIntosh (Pennsylvania) Fort McIntosh was an early American log frontier fort situated near the confluence of the Ohio River and the Beaver River in what is now Beaver, Pennsylvania. The fortress was constructed in 1778 under the direction of Lt. Col. Cambray-Digny, ...
, Fort Randolph (West Virginia), Fort Henry (West Virginia),
Fort Harmar Fort Harmar was an early United States frontier military fort, built in pentagonal shape during 1785 at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers, on the west side of the mouth of the Muskingum River. It was built under the orders of Colone ...
(Ohio),
Fort Washington (Ohio) Fort Washington was a fortified stockade with blockhouses built by order of Gen. Josiah Harmar starting in summer 1789 in what is now downtown Cincinnati, Ohio near the Ohio River. The physical location of the fort was facing the mouth of the ...
, and
Fort Nelson (Kentucky) Fort Nelson, built in 1781 by troops under George Rogers Clark including Captain Richard Chenoweth, was the second on-shore fort on the Ohio River in the area of what is now downtown Louisville, Kentucky. Fort-on-Shore, the downriver and first o ...
. Short-lived, special-purpose forts included
Fort Steuben Fort Steuben was a fortification erected in Feb. 1787 on the Ohio River in eastern Ohio Country at the northern end of the Seven Ranges land tract to be surveyed. It was at the location of the modern city of Steubenville, Ohio. The fort was built ...
(Ohio), Fort Finney (Indiana), Fort Finney (Ohio) and
Fort Gower Hockingport is a census-designated place in southeastern Troy Township, Athens County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 212. It has a post office with the ZIP code 45739. It is located at the intersection o ...
(Ohio).


Gallery

File:Allegheny Monongahela Ohio.jpg, The
Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ) is a long headwater stream of the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania and New York. The Allegheny River runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border northwesterly into New York then in ...
, left, and Monongahela River join to form the Ohio River at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the largest metropolitan area on the river. File:LouisvilleNightSkyline2-small.jpg, Louisville, Kentucky, The deepest point of the Ohio River is a scour hole just below Cannelton locks and dam (river mile 720.7). File:Donna York.jpg, A barge hauls
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dead ...
in the
Louisville and Portland Canal The Louisville and Portland Canal was a canal bypassing the Falls of the Ohio River at Louisville, Kentucky. The Falls form the only barrier to navigation between the origin of the Ohio at Pittsburgh and the port of New Orleans on the Gulf of Me ...
, the only artificial portion of the Ohio River. File:Cincinnati-skyline-from-kentucky-shore-night.jpg, Cincinnati skyline showing the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge to Covington, Kentucky. File:Ohioriver bridge8475.JPG,
Carl Perkins Bridge The Carl D. Perkins Bridge is a cantilever bridge that spans the Ohio River between Washington Township, Scioto County, Ohio and South Portsmouth, Greenup County, Kentucky. The bridge carries the two lanes of State Route 852 and Truck Route ...
in Portsmouth, Ohio with Ohio River and Scioto River tributary on right. File:MVIMG 20190523 201311-EFFECTS (1).jpg, Ohio river in Huntington, West Virginia with the east Huntington bridge File:Geography of Ohio - DPLA - aaba7b3295ff6973b6fd1e23e33cde14 (page 133) (cropped2).jpg, The Ohio River seen at Sciotoville, from the "Geography of Ohio," 1923


See also

; Lists of dams and bridges *
List of crossings of the Ohio River This is a complete list of current bridges and other crossings of the Ohio River from the mouth at the Mississippi River at Cairo, Illinois to the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Illinois–Kentuc ...
* List of locks and dams of the Ohio River ; Lists of Rivers * List of variant names of the Ohio River *
List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem) The longest rivers of the United States include 38 that have main stems of at least long. The main stem is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". The United States Geological Survey (USGS) defines a mai ...
*
List of rivers of Illinois This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of Illinois: By drainage basin Gulf of Mexico *Mississippi River **Ohio River *** Lusk Creek *** Saline River ***Wabash River ****Little Wabash River ***** Skillet Fork ***** Elm River ***** Fox River ** ...
*
List of rivers of Indiana This is a list of rivers in Indiana ( U.S. state). By tributary Lake Erie *Maumee River ** St. Marys River ** St. Joseph River *** Cedar Creek **** Little Cedar Creek **** Willow Creek *** Fish Creek Lake Michigan *St. Joseph River (Lake Michig ...
*
List of rivers of Kentucky List of rivers in Kentucky ( U.S. state). By drainage basin This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name. All rivers in Kentucky flow to the Mississippi River, nearly all by virtue ...
* List of rivers of Ohio *
List of rivers of Pennsylvania This is a list of streams and rivers in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. By drainage basin This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name. Delaware Bay Chesapeake Bay *' ...
*
List of rivers of West Virginia This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of West Virginia. List of West Virginia rivers includes streams formally designated as rivers. There are also smaller streams (i.e., branches, creeks, drains, forks, licks, runs, etc.) in the state. Exc ...
; Ohio Valley, etc. * Appalachian Ohio *
Appalachian Pennsylvania Appalachian may refer to: * Appalachian Mountains, a major mountain range in eastern United States and Canada * Appalachian Trail, a hiking trail in the eastern United States * The people of Appalachia and their culture ** Appalachian Americans, e ...
*
Ohio and Erie Canal The Ohio and Erie Canal was a canal constructed during the 1820s and early 1830s in Ohio. It connected Akron with the Cuyahoga River near its outlet on Lake Erie in Cleveland, and a few years later, with the Ohio River near Portsmouth. It a ...
* Ohio River flood of 1937 * Watersheds of Illinois *
Ohio River Valley AVA The Ohio River Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area centered on the Ohio River and surrounding areas. It is the second largest wine appellation of origin in the United States (only the Upper Mississippi Valley is larger) with (67,300& ...
*
Ohio Valley in Kentucky The Ohio Valley is a sub region in Kentucky running long including parts of 25 counties and across five regions of the state. Over 45% of Kentucky's population live in counties that border the Ohio River, although those counties are only 16% of ...
*
Ohio River Trail The Ohio River Greenway Trail (ORT) is a proposed route that would interconnect existing trails in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. The proposal is spearheaded by the Ohio River Trail Council (ORTC), a volunteer-led, non-profit ...
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Ohio River Water Trail The Ohio River Water Trail navigates the counties of Allegheny, Beaver, Columbiana, and Hancock in the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The trail is under the stewardship of the Ohio River Trail Council. The water trail or blue ...
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Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area The Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area is a national, bi-state area on the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky in the United States, administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Federal status was awarded in 1981. The fa ...


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External links


Ohio River Flows and Forecasts

U.S. Geological Survey: PA stream gauging stations

Ohio River Forecast Center
which issues official river forecasts for the Ohio River and its tributaries from Smithland Lock and Dam upstream
Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center
which issues official river forecasts for the Ohio River and its tributaries downstream of Smithland Lock and Dam * {{Authority control Tributaries of the Mississippi River Rivers of Illinois Rivers of Indiana Rivers of Kentucky Rivers of Ohio Rivers of Pennsylvania Rivers of West Virginia Appalachian Ohio Borders of Illinois Borders of Kentucky Borders of Indiana Borders of Ohio Borders of West Virginia Mississippi River watershed