Morrow

Formed March 1, 1848 (85^th county)

Morrow County (34,940), Mount Gilead (3,498)

The red brick Romanesque courthouse was built in 1854 and remodeled in 1896.  The facility is on High Street between Walnut and North streets.  Ohio State Highway 95 is High Street.  David Auld provided the courthouse designs.  The building was enlarged in 1930 and 1939.  The old county jail sits next door.  The courthouse features a tower and veteran memorials on the grounds.  The county was established on March 1, 1848 from parts of Knox, Marion, Delaware, and Richland counties as the 85^th county.  Mount Gilead has always been the county seat.  The county is named for Governor Jeremiah Morrow.  Mount Gilead is presumably named for the Biblical location. 

Morrow County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners.  Three Common Pleas Court Judges serve Morrow County.  The county is located in north central Ohio.  Columbus, Ohio is south and Cleveland, Ohio is northeast of the county.  The county center is 2.7 miles Southeast of Mount Gilead.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Richland, Knox, Delaware, Marion, and Crawford counties. 

The area of the county is 406.2 square miles.  It is 73 out of 88 in the state.  It ranks 69 out of 88 in population in the state.  It has a density of 86.0 persons per square mile making it 66 out of 88 in the state.  Morrow County has 19.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 71 passes through the county from Richland County, northeast, to Delaware County, southwest.  United States Highway 42 parallels Interstate Highway 71 from Richland to Delaware counties.  Warren G. Harding, the 28^th President, was born in this county.  The county resembles a house with a chimney lying on its left side.  The county seat is located near the center of the county.  Mount Gilead is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 10.0% of the county population.  The county is pronounced MOER-ROE.  The county seat is pronounced MONT GIL-EE-AD.  This county is in the Columbus Metropolitan Statistical Area.