Piketon is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in Pike County in the U.S. state of

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, along the

Scioto River The Scioto River ( ) is a river in central and southern Ohio more than in length. It rises in Hardin County, Ohio, Hardin County just north of Roundhead, Ohio, flows through Columbus, Ohio, where it collects its largest tributary, the Olent ...

. The village is best known for the uranium enrichment plant located there, which is one of only three such plants in the United States. The population was 2,111 at the 2020 U.S. census.

History

Originally called Jefferson, Piketon was the county seat of Pike County from 1815 to 1845, when James Emmitt, a wealthy local entrepreneur, influenced the transfer of the county seat to Waverly, due to its closer proximity to the then-new Ohio & Erie Canal. Piketon is the location of the Pike County Fairgrounds and is served by the Scioto Valley School District. Perhaps the best-known historic resident of Piketon was Robert Lucas, the twelfth governor of Ohio and first territorial governor of Iowa. Around 1824, Lucas built a large brick house two miles east of Piketon, named Friendly Grove, which became a center of local political activity. Piketon is served by the Western and Piketon branches of the Garnet A. Wilson Public Library.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the village has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Economy

The initial operation of the lead cascade of the American Centrifuge Demonstration Facility in Piketon, Ohio, in 2005 by Centrus Energy Corp. comprised the first publicly visible component of next-generation uranium enrichment technology in the United States that employed a

gas centrifuge A gas centrifuge is a device that performs isotope separation of gases. A centrifuge relies on the principles of centrifugal force accelerating molecules so that particles of different masses are physically separated in a gradient along the radiu ...

process rather than

gaseous diffusion Gaseous diffusion is a technology that was used to produce enriched uranium by forcing gaseous uranium hexafluoride (UF6) through microporous membranes. This produces a slight separation (enrichment factor 1.0043) between the molecules containi ...

to produce enriched

uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...

. Piketon was expected to exhibit a growth economy during the early 21st century with the establishment of a full-size commercial uranium enrichment plant by 2012. However, in September 2015, the Department of Energy halted the project. Ohio Senator

Rob Portman Robert Jones Portman (born December 19, 1955) is an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Ohio from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Portman was the 35th director of the Office of Management ...

said, "This news is a major blow to the Piketon community and southeast Ohio".

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 2,181 people, 820 households, and 517 families residing in the village. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 908 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 97.3%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.9%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.1% Native American, 0.2% Asian, and 1.5% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 0.3% of the population. There were 820 households, of which 35.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.8% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 19.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 37.0% were non-families. 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 3.00. The median age in the village was 38.2 years. 25.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.5% were from 25 to 44; 23.5% were from 45 to 64; and 18.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 46.7% male and 53.3% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 1,907 people, 693 households, and 469 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 745 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 96.22%

, 1.10%

, 0.16% Native American, 0.26% Asian, 0.05%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, and 2.20% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.26% of the population. There were 693 households, out of which 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.1% were

living together, 21.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.2% were non-families. 28.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.93. In the village, the population was spread out, with 24.5% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 18.6% from 45 to 64, and 21.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 76.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 72.1 males. The median income for a household in the village was $21,290, and the median income for a family was $23,846. Males had a median income of $31,618 versus $21,602 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the village was $11,599. About 28.5% of families and 30.3% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 41.5% of those under age 18 and 24.1% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Scioto Valley Local School District operates Piketon High School in the village. Piketon has a public library, a branch of the Garnet A. Wilson Public Library of Pike County.

Culture

The Pike County Dogwood Festival is hosted annually in Piketon on the last full weekend in April. The festival was started in 1971, and features local foods, crafts, live

bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Bluegrass has roots in African America ...

and a parade, including a performance by the Piketon High School marching band. Several other exhibits from various local groups are also hosted in the Piketon Jasper United Methodist Church, including the Pike County Historical Society, the Pike County Quilters, Appalachian Kitchen, and artworks by local students.

In popular culture

Piketon is briefly shown in the 2013 American

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

, '' White House Down,'' directed by

Roland Emmerich Roland Emmerich (; born 10 November 1955) is a German-American filmmaker. Emmerich is widely known for his science fiction and disaster films and has been called a "master of disaster" within the movie industry. His films, most of which are Eng ...

. Towards the climax of the film, there is a scene in which terrorists hack into

NORAD North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ; , CDAAN), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and pr ...

and launch a missile at Air Force One from the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant located in Piketon, killing everyone on board.

Notable people

* Robert Lucas, twelfth governor of Ohio and first territorial governor of Iowa

Gallery

File:PiketonOH1.JPG, Piketon corporation limit sign. File:PiketonOH2.JPG, Looking east on Main Street in Piketon. File:Piketon, Ohio Water Tower.jpg, Water tower in Piketon, Ohio. File:Once the Pike County (Ohio) Court House The structure was completed in 1819.jpg, Old Court House, completed in 1819.

References

External links

Garnet A. Wilson Public Library

Piketon, Ohio Information
{{authority control Villages in Pike County, Ohio Villages in Ohio