I am sharing a few early maps of Ohio and a little history about the formation of Ohio’s Counties. A few years after the “Northwest Territory was established, counties such as Hamilton Knox, and Wayne Counties overlapped both Ohio and Indiana, as shown depicting the state circa 1797.
This is an 1802 map of counties established in Ohio, -shortly before it became a state in 1803.
When Ohio was admitted to the union in as the 17th state, it contained 17 counties. The northern Michigan boundary was still undecided. As mentioned in an earlier post, there’s a practical reason for counties to form. In the early US, tax collectors at would visit the landowners to collect payment.
However, once the population grew, this practice became impractical and citizens began paying taxes at the courthouse.
If you were in a large county, it may have took days to travel to and from the courthouse. Lawmakers decided each taxpayer had to live within a day’s ride to the courthouse. As the population continued to grow, the map continued to change. A rush continued to accommodate horse and buggy transportation. This practice was a common rule of thumb when Ohio formed. Today Ohio has 88 counties.
Here is a list of Ohio 88 counties organized by the year they were formed.
County Date Established
Adams County Jul 10, 1797
Allen County Mar 1, 1820
Ashland County Feb 24, 1846
Ashtabula County Jun 7, 1807
Athens County Mar 1, 1805
Auglaize County Feb 14, 1848
Belmont County Sep 7, 1801
Brown County Mar 1, 1818
Butler County May 1, 1803
Carroll County Jan 1, 1833
Champaign County Mar 1, 1805
Clark County Mar 1, 1818
Clermont County Dec 6, 1800
Clinton County Mar 1, 1810
Columbiana County May 1, 1803
Coshocton County Jan 31, 1810
Crawford County Apr 1, 1820
Cuyahoga County Jun 7, 1807
Darke County Jan 3, 1809
Defiance County Apr 7, 1845
Delaware County Apr 1, 1808
Erie County Mar 15, 1838
Fairfield County Dec 9, 1800
Fayette County Mar 1, 1810
Franklin County Apr 30, 1803
Fulton County Apr 1, 1850
Gallia County Apr 30, 1803
Geauga County Mar 1, 1806
Greene County May 1, 1803
Guernsey County Mar 1, 1810
Hamilton County Jan 2, 1790
Hancock County Apr 1, 1820
Hardin County Apr 1, 1820
Harrison County Feb 1, 1813
Henry County Apr 1, 1820
Highland County May 1, 1805
Hocking County Mar 1, 1818
Holmes County Jan 20, 1824
Huron County Mar 7, 1809
Jackson County Mar 1, 1816
Jefferson County Jul 29, 1797
Knox County Mar 1, 1808
Lake County Mar 6, 1840
Lawrence County Dec 21, 1815
Licking County Mar 1, 1808
Logan County Mar 1, 1818
Lorain County Dec 26, 1822
Lucas County Jun 20, 1835
Madison County Mar 1, 1810
Mahoning County Mar 1, 1846
Marion County Apr 1, 1820
Medina County Feb 18, 1812
Meigs County Apr 1, 1819
Mercer County Apr 1, 1820
Miami County Mar 1, 1807
Monroe County Jan 29, 1813
Montgomery County May 1, 1803
Morgan County Dec 29, 1817
Morrow County Mar 1, 1848
Muskingum County Mar 1, 1804
Noble County Apr 1, 1851
Ottawa County Mar 6, 1840
Paulding County Apr 1, 1820
Perry County Mar 1, 1818
Pickaway County Mar 1, 1810
Pike County Feb 1, 1815
Portage County Jun 7, 1807
Preble County Mar 1, 1808
Putnam County Apr 1, 1820
Richland County Mar 1, 1808
Ross County Aug 20, 1798
Sandusky County Apr 1, 1820
Scioto County May 1, 1803
Seneca County Apr 1, 1820
Shelby County Apr 1, 1819
Stark County Feb 13, 1808
Summit County Mar 3, 1840
Trumbull County Jul 10, 1800
Tuscarawas County Mar 15, 1808
Union County Apr 1, 1820
Van Wert County Apr 1, 1820
Vinton County Mar 23, 1850
Warren County May 1, 1803
Washington County Jul 27, 1788
Wayne County Mar 1, 1812
Williams County Apr 1, 1820
Wood County Apr 1, 1820
Wyandot County Feb 3, 1845
One can see that the state was settled as the government released lands for settlement in the map below. Of lands in the Northwest Territory, Ohio was first to become a state.