Ross 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 ...

in the Appalachian region of 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 United States census, the population was 77,093.2020 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 ...

is Chillicothe, the first and third capital of Ohio. Established on August 20, 1798, the county is named for Federalist

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

James Ross of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. Ross County comprises the Chillicothe, OH Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Columbus-Marion-Zanesville, OH Combined Statistical Area.

History

Ross County was formed by proclamation of Governor St. Clair, August 20, 1798, being the sixth county formed in the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established ...

. Ross County was described by Ephraim George Squier and Edwin Hamilton Davis as having almost "one hundred enclosures of various sizes, and five hundred mounds" in their book, ''

Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley ''Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley'' (full title ''Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley: Comprising the Results of Extensive Original Surveys and Explorations'') (1848) by the Americans Ephraim George Squier and Edwin Hamilton ...

'' (1848). They described the Indian-built earthworks as ranging from in size, and enclosures of large. These included Serpent Mound, Fort Ancient, Mound City, and Seip Earthworks (both now part of Hopewell Culture National Historical Park), and Newark Earthworks.

Geography

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 ...

flows southward through the east-central part of the county. Paint Creek drains the lower central part of the county, flowing eastward to its terminus with the Scioto at a point southeast of Chillicothe. The county terrain consists of frequent wooded hills, with the intermediate level areas devoted to agriculture.Ross County OH - Google Maps (accessed 8 June 2019)
/ref> The county's highest point is Farrell Hill, northeast of Bainbridge. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.6%) is water. Ross County is the second-largest county by land area in Ohio, after Ashtabula County, as well as the fifth-largest by total area.

Adjacent counties

* Pickaway County - north * Hocking County - northeast * Vinton County - east * Jackson County - southeast * Pike County - south * Highland County - southwest * Fayette County - northwest

Protected areas

* Adena State Memorial * Great Seal State Park * Hopewell Culture National Historical Park * Paint Creek State Park (part) * Pleasant Valley Wildlife Area * Ross Lake Wilderness Area * Scioto Trail State Forest * Scioto Trail State Park (part of American Discovery Trail) * Tar Hollow State Forest (part)

Demographics

2000 census

As of the 2000 United States Census, there were 73,345 people, 27,136 households, and 19,185 families in the county. 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 29,461 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 91.74%

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 ...

, 6.20%

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 ...

, 0.31% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 0.02%

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 ...

, 0.19% from other races, and 1.20% from two or more races. 0.58% 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 27,136 households, out of which 32.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.20% 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, 11.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.30% were non-families. 24.90% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.30% 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 2.97. The county population contained 24.00% under the age of 18, 8.60% from 18 to 24, 31.60% from 25 to 44, 23.60% from 45 to 64, and 12.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 108.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 109.00 males. The median income for a household in the county was $37,117, and the median income for a family was $43,241. Males had a median income of $35,892 versus $23,399 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 $17,569. About 9.10% of families and 12.00% 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 15.10% of those under age 18 and 10.20% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 78,064 people, 28,919 households, and 19,782 families in the county. The population density was . There were 32,148 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 90.7% white, 6.2% black or African American, 0.4% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 0.3% from other races, and 2.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.0% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 27.0% were German, 15.2% were Irish, 12.5% were American, and 10.5% were English. Of the 28,919 households, 32.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.2% were married couples living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 31.6% were non-families, and 26.2% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.95. The median age was 39.8 years. The median income for a household in the county was $42,626 and the median income for a family was $50,081. Males had a median income of $42,721 versus $32,374 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,595. About 13.1% of families and 17.3% of the population were below the

, including 24.7% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those age 65 or over.

Government

County officials

County officials are (as of October 2024): * County Auditor Jeff Lehner * County Board of Elections ** Traci Henness, Director ** Jessica Ott, Deputy Director ** Beth Neal, Chair ** Eric Rinehart, Member ** Doug Corcoran, Member ** Philip Gray, Member * Clerk of Courts Jordan Wheeler * Board of Commissioners ** James "Oody" Lowe ** Jack Everson ** David Glass * Ross County Court of Common Pleas: ** Judge Michael M. Ater ** Judge Matthew Schmidt ** Probate and Juvenile Court Judge J. Jeffrey Benson ** Magistrate John Di Cesare * County Coroner Ben Trotter * County Engineer Charles R. Ortman * County Prosecutor Jeffrey C. Marks * County Recorder Anthony “Major” Maughmer * County Treasurer David Jeffers * County Sheriff George W. Lavender

Politics

Ross is a generally Republican county in Presidential and Congressional elections, although until recent years, Democratic candidates performed fairly well in the county. The last Democrat to win a majority in the county was Lyndon Johnson in 1964, while

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, ...

won a plurality in 1996 and

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

came within just 439 votes in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. Ross is part of Ohio's 2nd congressional district, which is held by Republican David Taylor.

Education

School districts

School districts covering portions of Ross County include: * Adena Local School District * Chillicothe City School District * Greenfield Exempted Village School District * Huntington Local School District * Logan Elm Local School District * Miami Trace Local School District * Paint Valley Local School District * Southeastern Local School District * Union-Scioto Local School District * Waverly City School District * Zane Trace Local School District

Pickaway-Ross Career & Technology Center

Pickaway-Ross lies in the Northern part of the county. Students from the following affiliated Ross and Pickaway county districts attend the vocational school: * Adena Local School District (Ross County) * Chillicothe City School District (Ross County) * Huntington Local School District (Ross County) * Paint Valley Local School District (Ross County) * Southeastern Local School District (Ross County) * Unioto Local School District (Ross County) * Zane Trace Local School District (Ross County) * Circleville City School District (Pickaway County) * Logan Elm Local School District (Pickaway County) * Westfall Local School District (Pickaway County)

Ohio University Chillicothe

Ohio University established a regional campus in Chillicothe in 1966. The university has over 2,500 students enrolled as of 2010, ranging from traditional-aged students and non-traditional learners.

Communities

City

* Chillicothe (county seat)

Villages

* Adelphi * Bainbridge * Clarksburg * Frankfort * Kingston * South Salem

Census-designated places

* Andersonville * Bourneville * Richmond Dale or Richmondale

Unincorporated communities

* Alma * Anderson * Austin * Brownsville *

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

* Fruitdale *

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

* Hallsville * Harper * Higby * Hopetown * Humboldt * Ingham * Kinnikinnick * Knockemstiff * Lattaville * Lickskillet * Londonderry * Lyndon * Massieville * Metzger * Mooresville * Musselman * Nipgen * North Fork Village * Pleasant Grove * Pleasant ValleyPleasant Valley, Union Twp OH - Google Maps (accessed 8 June 2019)
/ref> *

Pride Pride is a human Emotion, secondary emotion characterized by a sense of satisfaction with one's Identity (philosophy), identity, performance, or accomplishments. It is often considered the opposite of shame or of humility and, depending on conte ...

* Roxabell * Schooley * Slate Mills * Spargursville * Storms * Summithill * Tucson *

Vigo Vigo (, ; ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of province of Pontevedra, Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest ...

* Yellowbud

Townships

* Buckskin * Colerain * Concord * Deerfield * Franklin *

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 ...

* Harrison * Huntington * Jefferson *

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

* Paint * Paxton * Scioto * Springfield *

Twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...

* Union

Notable people

* Clyde Beatty (1903-1965) - lion tamer and animal trainer * Blue Jacket (1743-1810) - Shawnee War Chief * William Granville Cochran (1844-1932) - Illinois state judge and legislator * Esther Housh (1840–1898) - social reformer, author, editor * Donald Ray Pollock (1954) - author *

John Purdue John Purdue (; October 31, 1802 – September 12, 1876) was a wealthy American industrialist in Lafayette, Indiana, and the primary original benefactor of Purdue University. Early life Most details of Purdue's early life were either not record ...

(1802-1876) - founding benefactor of

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

* Frederick Madison Roberts (1879-1952) - great-grandson of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson, first African-American elected to office on the West Coast (elected to California Assembly in 1918), and "dean of the assembly" who helped found the University of California at Los Angeles. * Tecumseh (1768-1813) - Native American Shawnee Leader

References

External links

*
Ross County Government website

Ross County Commissioners
{{authority control Appalachian Ohio 1798 establishments in the Northwest Territory Populated places established in 1798