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Ohio Counties
There is eighty-eight counties in the state of Ohio. Washington County the oldest in the state established on July 27, 1788. Noble County was formed on March 11, 1851 from portions of Guernsey, Morgan, Monroe and Washington counties. It was the last county to be formed in Ohio and, therefore, represents the youngest county in the state.Jefferson County, Ohio
Jefferson County Education, Geography, and History
Jefferson County is a county located in the state of Ohio. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 69,709. Its county seat is
Steubenville. The county is named for Thomas Jefferson, who was at the time Vice President.
Jefferson County is part of the Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Pittsburgh-New
Castle-Weirton, PA-WV-OH Combined Statistical Area.
Etymology - Origin of Jefferson County Name
Residents named the county in honor of Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence and the first United States Secretary of State.
Demographics:
County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts
Jefferson County History
The Northwest Territory government authorized the creation of Jefferson County on July 29, 1797. Residents named the county in honor of Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence and the first United States Secretary of State. Fort Steuben, now the site of Steubenville,
contained the first federal land office in Ohio, which sold federal land to settlers as they migrated westward, spurring Ohio's development.
Jefferson County is located in the eastern portion of Ohio, and it is in the heart of Appalachia. Its eastern border touches the Ohio River and helps form Ohio's boundary with West Virginia. With only 1.5 percent of the county's 410 square miles deemed to be urban, most residents live in rural
areas. The county averages just over 180 people per square mile. The county's largest community and county seat is Steubenville, which had just over nineteen thousand residents in 2000. Like many of Ohio's predominantly rural counties, Jefferson County experienced a loss in population between 1990
and 2000. In 2000, 73,894 people resided in the county, a decrease of eight percent since 1990.
Service industries, such as health care, communications, and tourism, and retail positions are the two largest employers in Jefferson County. Farming is a distant fifth behind manufacturing and government positions. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, coal mining, especially
strip mining, were major employers in the county. Now, much of the strip-mined land has been reforested. In 1999, the per capita income for Jefferson County residents was approximately twenty-one thousand dollars. More than fifteen percent of the county's residents lived in poverty.
Most voters in Jefferson County claim to be independents, yet in recent years, they have supported Democratic Party candidates by a small margin at the national level.
Sources
Jefferson County, Ohio History Central, July 24, 2008,
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1951&nm=Jefferson-County
Geography: Land and Water
As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 411 square miles (1,060 km2), of which 408 square miles (1,060 km2) is land and 2.6 square miles (6.7 km2) (0.6%) is water.
Neighboring Counties
Bordering counties are as follows:
- Columbiana County (north)
- Hancock County, West Virginia (northeast)
- Brooke County, West Virginia (east)
- Ohio County, West Virginia (southeast)
- Belmont County (south)
- Harrison County (southwest)
- Carroll County (northwest)
Education
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