Washington

Formed July 27, 1788 (1^st county)

Washington County (59,769), Marietta (13,384)                

The masonry and concrete Romanesque building was erected in 1902.  It is situated on Putnam Street at 2^nd Street.  Ohio State Highway 7 is two blocks to the northeast.  Samuel Hannaford and Sons are the architects.  The structure features columns and a tower with a working clock.  Washington County was formed on July 27, 1788 as the first original county with Marietta as the only county seat.  The county is named for United States President George Washington.  He is also the namesake of the county seat of Fayette County. 

Washington County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners.  Four Common Pleas Court Judges serve Washington County.  The county is on the southeast border with West Virginia.  The Ohio River forms its southern border.  Columbus, Ohio is northwest and Youngstown, Ohio is northeast of the county.  The county center is 3.6 miles West-Northwest of Marietta nearer Locust Fork.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Noble and Monroe counties and West Virginia and Athens and Morgan counties.  The county seat is named for French heroine Marie Antoinette.  Washington County is the birthplace of 3 Ohio Governors, John Brough, C. William O’Neill, and Nancy P. Hollister. 

The area of the county is 635.2 square miles.  It is 5 out of 88 in the state.  It ranks 42 out of 88 in population in the state.  It has a density of 94.1 persons per square mile making it 58 out of 88 in the state.  Washington County has 38.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 77 passes through the county from north to south from Noble County to West Virginia.  United States Highway 50 clips the southwest tip from West Virginia, south, to Athens County, west.  The overall shape resembles a rifle pointing east.  Marietta is located on the southern border.  Marietta is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 22.4% of the county population.  This county is in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Matamoras