Ross County, Ohio facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ross County
U.S. county
Ross County Courthouse
Flag Seal
Location within the U.S. state of Ohio
Ohio's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Ohio
Founded	August 20, 1798
Named for	James Ross
Seat	Chillicothe
Largest city	Chillicothe
Area
• Total	693.03 sq mi (1,794.9 km2)
• Land	689.19 sq mi (1,785.0 km2)
• Water	3.84 sq mi (9.9 km2)  0.6%%
Population  (2020)
• Total	77,093
• Density	110/sq mi (40/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	2nd

Ross County is a county in the Appalachian region of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 77,093. Its county seat is Chillicothe, the first and third capital of Ohio. Established on August 20, 1798, the county is named for Federalist Senator James Ross of Pennsylvania. 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 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 (1848). They described the Indian-built earthworks as ranging from five to 30 feet in size, and enclosures of one to 50 acres 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

Countryside northeast of Chillicothe on State Route 180

The Scioto River 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. The county's highest point is Farrell Hill, six miles (9.7 km) northeast of Bainbridge. The county has a total area of 693 square miles (1,790 km²), of which 689 square miles (1,780 km²) is land and 3.8 square miles (9.8 km²) (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

Protected areas

Demographics

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 113 people per square mile (44 people/km²). There were 32,148 housing units at an average density of 46.6 units per square mile (18.0/km²). 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 poverty line, including 24.7% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those age 65 or over.

Education

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

Map of Ross County, Ohio With Municipal and Township Labels

City

• Chillicothe (county seat)

Villages

Census-designated places

• Andersonville
• Bourneville
• Richmond Dale or Richmondale

Unincorporated communities

Townships

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 (1802-1876) - founding benefactor of Purdue University
• 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.

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Ross para niños