Gallia County () is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located 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 ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 29,220.2020 census
/ref> Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

and largest village is Gallipolis. Named after the French people who originally settled there, its

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...

“Gallia” is the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word for

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

, the ancient region of Western Europe that included present day

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Gallia County is part of the Point Pleasant, WV-OH Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Gallia County was formed on March 25, 1803, from portions of Adams and Washington counties. Gallia County had originally been settled by French immigrants, who named the county "Gallia", the

name for

, the ancient region of Western Europe which included present day France. In the 19th century, the county was settled by numerous migrants from the Upper South, who traveled to the territory by the Ohio River. In the antebellum years, some of its towns became centers of settlement by African Americans, both free blacks (some also from the South) and refugee slaves who had escaped their owners and come across the river to a free state. In 1818, a group from Wales settled in Gallia County, with Welsh remaining Gallia County's most common second language until 1970.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.0%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Vinton County (north) * Meigs County (northeast) *

Mason County, West Virginia Mason County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 25,453. Its county seat and largest city is Point Pleasant, West Virginia, Point Pleasant. ...

(east) * Cabell County, West Virginia (south) * Lawrence County (southwest) * Jackson County (northwest)

National protected area

* Wayne National Forest (part)

Demographics

2000 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 2000, there were 31,069 people, 12,060 households, and 8,586 families living in the county. The population density was . There were 13,498 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 95.26%

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 ...

, 2.70%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

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 ...

, 0.43% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 0.15% from other races, and 1.11% from two or more races. 0.61% of the population were

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. There were 12,060 households, out of which 33.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.50% 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, 11.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.80% were non-families. 25.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.98. In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.00% under the age of 18, 9.70% from 18 to 24, 27.50% from 25 to 44, 24.20% from 45 to 64, and 13.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.10 males. The median income for a household in the county was $30,191, and the median income for a family was $35,938. Males had a median income of $31,783 versus $22,829 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 county was $15,183. About 13.50% of families and 18.10% 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 25.20% of those under age 18 and 10.00% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 30,934 people, 12,062 households, and 8,264 families living in the county. The population density was . There were 13,925 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 94.7% white, 2.6% black or African American, 0.5% Asian, 0.4% American Indian, 0.2% from other races, and 1.6% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.9% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 18.6% were American, 15.9% were German, 15.6% were Irish, and 8.0% were English. Of the 12,062 households, 31.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.9% were married couples living together, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 31.5% were non-families, and 27.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.99. The median age was 39.9 years. The median income for a household in the county was $37,409 and the median income for a family was $46,470. Males had a median income of $39,301 versus $30,068 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,199. About 15.8% of families and 21.3% of the population were below the

, including 30.7% of those under age 18 and 14.9% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Gallia County has been a Republican stronghold ever since that party was formed.

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...

in his 1964 landslide is the solitary Democrat to win a majority of the county's vote in the presidential election, although

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was the 15th president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. He also served as the United States Secretary of State, secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvan ...

in 1856 and

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

in 1996 won a plurality.

Communities

Villages

* Centerville *

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

* Crown City * Gallipolis (county seat) *

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

* Vinton

Townships

* Addison *

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

* Gallipolis *

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

* Greenfield * Guyan * Harrison * Huntington * Morgan *

Perry Perry or pear cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally in England (particularly Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire), parts of South Wales, France (especially Normandy and Anjou), Canada, Austral ...

Raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the North American, northern or common raccoon (also spelled racoon) to distinguish it from Procyonina, other species of raccoon, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest ...

* Springfield *

Walnut A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...

Census-designated place

* Kanauga

Unincorporated communities

* Bidwell *

Kerr Kerr may refer to: People *Kerr (surname) *Kerr (given name) Places ;United States *Kerr Township, Champaign County, Illinois *Kerr, Montana, A US census-designated place *Kerr, Ohio, an unincorporated community *Kerr County, Texas Kerr Co ...

* Mercerville * Patriot

References

External links

Gallia County Government website

Gallia County Sheriff's website
{{Coord, 38.83, -82.32, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-OH_source:UScensus1990 Appalachian Ohio Ohio counties on the Ohio River Point Pleasant micropolitan area 1803 establishments in Ohio Populated places established in 1803 Welsh-American culture in Ohio