Gallia

Formed April 30, 1803 (12^th county)

Gallia County (30,934), Gallipolis (3,641)

A red brick Modern building is the description of the 1985 courthouse.  The courthouse is on Locust Street between 1^st and 2^nd avenues.  Ohio State Highway 7 is 2^nd Avenue in this part of town.  Eesley, Lee, Vargo and Cassady are the building designers.  The county was established on April 30, 1803 from parts of Washington and Adams counties as the 12^th county.  An 1879 courthouse preceded the current one also in Gallipolis, the only county seat.  The county and county seat are derived for the Latin word for “France.” 

The area of the county is 471 square miles.  It is 38 out of 88 in the state.  It ranks 73 out of 88 in population in the state.  It has a density of 65.68 persons per square mile making it 77 out of 88 in the state.  Gallia County has 17.3% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 35 enters the county from the northwest, Jackson County, and exits to the southeast, West Virginia.  The county looks like a tall coffee mug.  The county seat is located on the eastern border of the county.  Gallipolis is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 11.8% of the county population. 

Gallia County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners.  Two Common Pleas Court Judges serve Gallia County.  The county is on the southeast border with West Virginia.  The Ohio River forms its eastern border.  Columbus, Ohio is north and Cincinnati, Ohio is northwest of the county.  The county center is 9.2 miles West-Northwest of Gallipolis nearer Adamsville.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Meigs County and West Virginia and Lawrence, Jackson, and Vinton counties.  The county is pronounced GAL-YA.  The county seat is pronounced GAL-I-POE-LIS.  This county is in the Point Pleasant Micropolitan Statistical Area.