Wells Township is one of the fourteen

townships A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

of Jefferson County,

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

, United States. The 2020 census found 2,491 people in the township.

Geography

Located in the southeastern part of the county along the

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

, it borders the following townships: * Cross Creek Township - north * Steubenville Township - northeast * Warren Township - south * Smithfield Township - west * Wayne Township - northwest

Brooke County, West Virginia Brooke County is a county in the Northern Panhandle of the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,559. Its county seat is Wellsburg. The county was created in 1797 from part of Ohio County and named in hon ...

lies across the Ohio River to the east. Part of the village of New Alexandria is located in northern Wells Township. As well, two

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

lie in Wells Township: Brilliant in the east, and Weems in the northwest.

Name and history

Wells Township was founded in 1823. It was named for

Bezaleel Wells Bezaleel Wells (January 28, 1773 – August 14, 1846) was an American politician, judge, surveyor and landowner from Ohio. He was known as the founder of Steubenville and Canton. He was a member of the Ohio Senate, representing Jefferson Coun ...

, a founder of

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

. It is the only Wells Township statewide.

Government

The township is governed by a three-member board of trustees, who are elected in November of odd-numbered years to a four-year term beginning on the following January 1. Two are elected in the year after the presidential election and one is elected in the year before it. There is also an elected township fiscal officer,§503.24§505.01
an
§507.01
of the

Ohio Revised Code The ''Ohio Revised Code'' contains all current statutes of the Ohio General Assembly of a permanent and general nature, consolidated into provisions, titles, chapters and sections. However, the only official publication of the enactments of the Ge ...

. Accessed April 30, 2009. who serves a four-year term beginning on April 1 of the year after the election, which is held in November of the year before the presidential election. Vacancies in the fiscal officership or on the board of trustees are filled by the remaining trustees.

References

External links

Township websiteCounty website
{{authority control Townships in Jefferson County, Ohio Townships in Ohio