Butler

Formed May 1, 1803 (13^th county)

Butler County (390,378), Hamilton (63,386)                

The Modern courthouse was built in 1999 to replace a classic 1889 structure.  It sits on a square on High Street at 3^rd Street.  Ohio State Highway 128 is High Street.  This concrete and glass building was designed by Lorenz and Williams Associates.  There was an 1816 facility also in Hamilton, the only county seat.  A 1976 County Administration Building supports the courthouse.  A memorial statue for all veterans sits down High Street from the 1889 courthouse.  The county was created on May 1, 1803 from Hamilton County as the 13^th county.  Butler County is named for American Indian War General Richard Butler.  The county seat is named for United States Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton.  He is also the namesake of Hamilton County.  Butler County is the birthplace of 4 Ohio Governors, William Bebb, James E. Campbell, Andrew L. Harris, and James M. Cox. 

Butler County government consists of an auditor, a sheriff, an attorney, and a coroner (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Eleven Common Pleas Court Judges and a court clerk serve Butler County (judicial.)  The county is on the southwest border with Indiana.  Cincinnati, Ohio is directly south and Dayton, Ohio is northeast of the county.  The county center is 3.8 miles Northeast of Hamilton in Williamsdale.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Preble, Montgomery, Warren, and Hamilton counties and Indiana. 

The area of the county is 467.3 square miles.  It is 34 out of 88 in the state.  It ranks 7 out of 88 in population in the state.  It has a density of 835.4 persons per square mile making it 8 out of 88 in the state.  Butler County has 54.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 75 cuts the southeast corner of the county from Warren County, east, to Hamilton County, south.  United States Highway 27 enters from Indiana, west, and exits into Hamilton County, south.  United States Highway 42 clips the southeast corner from Warren County to Hamilton County.  United States Highway 127 crosses north to south from Preble County to Hamilton County.  The county is an overall rectangle.  The county seat is located in the southern third of the county.  Hamilton is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 16.2% of the county population.  This county is in the Cincinnati-Middletown Metropolitan Statistical Area.