Symmes Township is one of the fourteen
townships of
Lawrence County,
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 ...
, United States. As of the
2020 census, the population was 428.
Geography
Located in the northern part of the county, it borders the following townships:
*
Greenfield Township, Gallia County - north
*
Walnut Township, Gallia County - east
*
Mason Township - southeast corner
*
Aid Township - south
*
Decatur Township - west
*
Washington Township - northwest
No municipalities are located in Symmes Township, although the
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
of
Waterloo is located in the southeastern part of the township.
Name and history
Symmes Township was named after John Cleves Symmes, as was
Symmes Creek of this township. Statewide, the only other Symmes Township is in
Hamilton County.
The first settlers organized Symmes Township and built cabins in the township in 1820. The first settlement was at the mouth of Johns Creek, with the next being on Buffalo Creek at Yates Fork (now Caulley Creek).
[US Genweb, History of Symmeys Township, Lawrence Co. Ohio.](_blank)
/ref> The first school was held in the cabin of Andrew Burke on Johns Creek in 1834. There were a total of twelve students from three different townships.
The township is within Wayne National Forest
The Wayne National Forest is located in the Appalachian part of the US state of Ohio, in the Unglaciated Allegheny Plateau. It is the first and only national forest in Ohio. Forest headquarters are located between The Plains and Nelsonville, ...
. In 1989, the federal government owned 61% of the land in the township.
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'' (ORC) 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 o ...
. Accessed 4/30/2009. 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.
Education
The vast majority of K-12 educational services are provided to Symmes Township by the Symmes Valley Local School District, although parts of the township receive services from the
Rock Hill Local School District
The Rock Hill Local School District is a local school district in Ohio. The central location for its offices and school campuses is just outside Ironton, Ohio. It currently operates four schools: the Rock Hill Child Development Center (Pre-K), ...
, which also offers Pre-K education.
References
External links
County website
{{authority control
Townships in Lawrence County, Ohio
Townships in Ohio