Ohio River (Iroquoian: Oyo[citation needed])
River
The widest point on the Ohio River is just east of Downtown Louisville, where it is one mile (1.6 km) wide
Country	United States
States	Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois
Tributaries
- left	Kanawha River, Big Sandy River, Kentucky River, Cumberland River, Tennessee River, Licking River
- right	Beaver River, Muskingum River, Scioto River, Great Miami River, Wabash River
Cities	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Wheeling, West Virginia, Huntington, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky, Jeffersonville, Indiana, New Albany, Indiana, Owensboro, Kentucky, Evansville, Indiana, Henderson, Kentucky, Paducah, Kentucky, Cairo, Illinois
Source	Allegheny River
- location	Allegany Township, Potter County, Pennsylvania
- elevation	2,240 ft (683 m)
- coordinates	41°52′22″N 77°52′30″W / 41.87278°N 77.875°W / 41.87278; -77.875
Secondary source	Monongahela River
- location	Fairmont, West Virginia
- elevation	880 ft (268 m)
- coordinates	39°27′53″N 80°09′13″W / 39.46472°N 80.15361°W / 39.46472; -80.15361
Source confluence
- location	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- elevation	730 ft (223 m)
- coordinates	40°26′32″N 80°00′52″W / 40.44222°N 80.01444°W / 40.44222; -80.01444
Mouth	Mississippi River
- location	Cairo, Illinois / Ballard County, Kentucky
- elevation	290 ft (88 m)
- coordinates	36°59′12″N 89°07′50″W / 36.98667°N 89.13056°W / 36.98667; -89.13056
Length	981 mi (1,579 km)
Basin	189,422 sq mi (490,601 km2)
Discharge	for Cairo, Illinois
- average	281,000 cu ft/s (7,957 m3/s) (1951-80)[1]
- max	1,850,000 cu ft/s (52,386 m3/s)
Ohio River basin

The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi (Ohio at Cairo: 281,500 cu ft/s (7,960 m³/s);^[2] Mississippi at Thebes: 208,200 cu ft/s (5,897 m³/s)^[3]) and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream. It is approximately 981 miles (1,579 km) long and is located in the Eastern United States.

The river had great significance in the history of the Native Americans, as numerous civilizations formed along its valley. In the five centuries prior to European contact, the Mississippian culture built numerous regional chiefdoms and major earthwork mounds in the Ohio Valley, such as Angel Mounds near Evansville, Indiana, as well as in the Mississippi Valley and the Southeast. For thousands of years, Native Americans, like the European explorers and settlers who followed them, used the river as a major transportation and trading route. Its waters connected communities. The Osage, Omaha, Ponca and Kaw lived in the Ohio Valley, but under pressure from the Iroquois to the northeast, migrated west of the Mississippi River to Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma in the 1600s.

René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle led an expedition to the Ohio River in 1669. His French party were the first Europeans to see the river. After European-American settlement, the river served at times as a border between present-day Kentucky and Indian Territories. It was a primary transportation route for pioneers during the westward expansion of the early U.S. The Ohio flows through or along the border of six states, and its drainage basin encompasses 14 states. Through its largest tributary, the Tennessee River, the basin includes many of the states of the southeastern U.S.

During the 19th century, the river was the southern boundary of the Northwest Territory. It is sometimes considered as the western extension of the Mason–Dixon Line that divided Pennsylvania from Maryland, and thus part of the border between free and slave territory, and between the Northern and Southern United States or Upper South. Where the river was narrow, it was the way to freedom for thousands of slaves escaping to the North, many helped by free blacks and whites of the Underground Railroad resistance movement.

The Ohio River is a climatic transition area, as its water runs along the periphery of the humid subtropical and humid continental climate areas. It is inhabited by fauna and flora of both climates. In winter it regularly freezes over at Pittsburgh but rarely so as it travels further south toward Cincinnati and Louisville. At Paducah, Kentucky in the south, near the Ohio’s confluence with the Mississippi, it is ice-free year round. Paducah was founded there because it is the northernmost ice-free reach of the Ohio. In his Notes on the State of Virginia published in 1781–82, Thomas Jefferson stated: "The Ohio is the most beautiful river on earth. Its current gentle, waters clear, and bosom smooth and unbroken by rocks and rapids, a single instance only excepted."^[4]

• 

  The Allegheny River (left) and Monongahela River (right) join to form the Ohio River at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania—the largest metropolitan area on the river.

• 

  Wheeling, West Virginia, a major city on the river, was the first city to have a bridge across the river.

• 

  Louisville, Kentucky is situated at both the widest and deepest level of the Ohio River.

• 

  A barge hauling coal in the Louisville and Portland Canal, the only man-made portion of the Ohio River.

• 

  Cincinnati, Ohio is a well-known city along the Ohio River, historically known for its riverboats. The Tall Stacks festival celebrates the Cincinnati riverboats and the Ohio River every three or four years.

• 

  Evansville, Indiana, the third-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest city on the river.

Geography and hydrography[link]

Natural-colour satellite image of the Wabash-Ohio confluence.

The Ohio River is formed by the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers at Point State Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From there, it flows northwest through Allegheny and Beaver counties, before making an abrupt turn to the south-southwest at the West Virginia–Ohio–Pennsylvania triple-state line (near East Liverpool, Ohio; Chester, West Virginia; and Midland, Pennsylvania). From there, it forms the border between West Virginia and Ohio, upstream of Wheeling, West Virginia.

The river then follows a roughly southwest and then west-northwest course until Cincinnati, before bending to a west-southwest course for most of its length. Its course forms the northern borders of West Virginia and Kentucky; and the southern borders of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, until it joins the Mississippi River near the city of Cairo, Illinois.

Major tributaries of the river, indicated by the location of the mouths, include:

• Allegheny River – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Monongahela River – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Saw Mill Run - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Chartiers Creek – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Beaver River – Rochester, Pennsylvania
• Wheeling Creek – Wheeling, West Virginia
• Middle Island Creek – St. Marys, West Virginia
• Little Muskingum River – Ohio
• Duck Creek – Ohio
• Muskingum River – Marietta, Ohio
• Little Kanawha River – Parkersburg, West Virginia
• Hocking River – Hockingport, Ohio
• Kanawha River – Point Pleasant, West Virginia
• Guyandotte River – Huntington, West Virginia
• Big Sandy River – Kentucky-West Virginia border
• Little Sandy River – Greenup, Kentucky
• Kinniconick Creek – Vanceburg, Kentucky
• Scioto River – Portsmouth, Ohio
• Little Scioto River – Sciotoville, Ohio
• Little Miami River – Cincinnati, Ohio
• Licking River – Newport-Covington, Kentucky
• Great Miami River – Ohio-Indiana border
• Salt River – West Point, Kentucky
• Kentucky River – Carrollton, Kentucky
• Green River – Kentucky
• Wabash River – Indiana-Illinois border
• Saline River – Illinois
• Cumberland River – Smithland, Kentucky
• Tennessee River – Paducah, Kentucky
• Cache River – Illinois
• Little Beaver Creek - East Liverpool, Ohio

Drainage basin[link]

The Ohio's drainage basin covers 189,422 square miles (490,600 km²), encompassing the easternmost regions of the Mississippi Basin. The Ohio drains parts of 15 states in four regions.

• Mid-Atlantic
  • New York: a small area of the southern border along the headwaters of the Allegheny.
  • Pennsylvania: a corridor from the southwestern corner to north central border.
  • Maryland: a small corridor along the Youghiogheny River on the western border.

• Upper South
  • West Virginia: all but the Eastern Panhandle.
  • Kentucky: all but a small part in the extreme west drained directly by the Mississippi.
  • Tennessee: all but a small part in the extreme west drained directly by the Mississippi, and a very small area in the southeastern corner which is drained by the Conasauga River.
  • Virginia: most of southwest Virginia.
  • North Carolina: the western quarter.

• Midwest
  • Ohio: the southern half.
  • Indiana: all but the northern area.
  • Illinois: the southeast quarter.

• Deep South
  • Georgia: the far northwest corner.
  • Alabama: the northern portion.
  • Mississippi: the northeast corner.
  • South Carolina: less than 1 square mile in the northwest.

Geology[link]

From a geological standpoint, the Ohio River is young. The river formed on a piecemeal basis beginning between 2.5 and 3 million years ago. The earliest ice ages occurred at this time and dammed portions of north-flowing rivers. The Teays River was the largest of these rivers. The modern Ohio River flows within segments of the ancient Teays. The ancient rivers were rearranged or consumed by glaciers and lakes.

Upper Ohio River[link]

The upper Ohio River formed when one of the glacial lakes overflowed into a south-flowing tributary of the Teays River. Prior to that event, the north-flowing Steubenville River (no longer in existence) ended between New Martinsville and Paden City, West Virginia. Likewise, the south-flowing Marietta River (no longer in existence) ended between the present-day cities. The overflowing lake carved through the separating hill and connected the rivers.

The resulting floodwaters enlarged the small Marietta valley to a size more typical of a large river. The new large river subsequently drained glacial lakes and melting glaciers at the end of several Ice Ages. The valley grew with each major ice age.

Many small rivers were altered or abandoned after the upper Ohio River formed. Valleys of some abandoned rivers can still be seen on satellite and aerial images of the hills of Ohio and West Virginia between Marietta, Ohio, and Huntington, West Virginia. As testimony to the major changes that occurred, such valleys are found on hilltops.^{[clarification needed]}

Middle Ohio River[link]

The middle Ohio River formed in a manner similar to formation of the upper Ohio River. A north-flowing river was temporarily dammed southwest of present-day Louisville, creating a large lake until the dam burst. A new route was carved to the Mississippi. Eventually the upper and middle sections combined to form what is essentially the modern Ohio River.

History[link]

Steamboat "Morning Star", a Louisville and Evansville mail packet, in 1858.

Pre-Columbian inhabitants of eastern North America considered the Ohio part of a single river continuing on through the lower Mississippi. The river's name comes from the Seneca (Iroquoian) ohiːyo', a proper name derived from ohiːyoːh, meaning "good river".^[5] The river is 1,310 miles (2,110 km) long and carries the largest volume of water of any tributary of the Mississippi. The Indians and early explorers and settlers of the region also often considered the Allegheny to be part of the Ohio. The forks (the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers at what is now Pittsburgh) was considered a strategic military location.

In 1669 René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, led an expedition of French traders who became the first Europeans to see the river. He traveled from Canada and entered the headwaters of the Ohio, traveling as far as the Falls of Ohio at present-day Louisville before turning back. He returned to explore the river again in other expeditions. An Italian cartographer traveling with him created the first map of the Ohio River. La Salle claimed the Ohio Valley for France.

French fur traders operated in the area, and France built forts along the Allegheny River.

In 1749, Great Britain established the Ohio Company to settle and trade in the area. Exploration of the territory and trade with the Indians in the region near the Forks by British colonials from Pennsylvania and Virginia - both of which claimed the territory - led to conflict with the French. In 1763, following the Seven Years War, France ceded the area to Britain.

The 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix opened Kentucky to colonial settlement and established the Ohio River as a southern boundary for American Indian territory.^[6] In 1774, the Quebec Act restored the land east of the Mississippi River and north of the Ohio River to Quebec, appeasing the French-speaking British subjects, but angering the Thirteen Colonies. They listed it as one of the Intolerable Acts which precipitated the American Revolution.

Louisville was founded at the only major natural navigational barrier on the river, the Falls of the Ohio. The Falls were a series of rapids where the river dropped 26 feet (7.9 m) in a stretch of about 2 miles (3.2 km). In this area, the river flowed over hard, fossil-rich beds of limestone. The first locks on the river were built in 1825 at Louisville to circumnavigate the falls. Today it is the site of McAlpine Locks and Dam.

Because the Ohio River flowed westwardly, it became a convenient means of westward movement by pioneers traveling from western Pennsylvania. After reaching the mouth of the Ohio, settlers would travel north on the Mississippi River to St. Louis, Missouri. There, some continued on up the Missouri River, some up the Mississippi, and some further west over land routes. In the early 19th century, pirates such as Samuel Mason, operating out of Cave-In-Rock, Illinois, waylaid travelers on their way down the river. They killed travelers, stealing their goods and scuttling their boats. The folktales about Mike Fink recall the keelboats used for commerce in the early days of European settlement. The Ohio River boatmen were the inspiration for performer Dan Emmett, who in 1843 wrote the song "The Boatman's Dance".

Trading boats and ships traveled south on the Mississippi to New Orleans, and sometimes beyond to the Gulf of Mexico and other ports in the Americas and Europe. This provided a much-needed export route for goods from the west, since the trek east over the Appalachian Mountains was long and arduous. The need for access to the port of New Orleans by settlers in the Ohio Valley led to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.

Because the river is the southern border of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, it was part of the border between free states and slave states in the years before the American Civil War. The expression "sold down the river" originated as a lament of Upper South slaves, especially from Kentucky, who were shipped via the Ohio and Mississippi to cotton and sugar plantations in the Deep South.^[7][8] Before and during the Civil War, the Ohio River was called the "River Jordan" by slaves crossing it to escape to freedom in the North via the Underground Railroad.^[9] More escaping slaves, estimated in the thousands, made their perilous journey north to freedom across the Ohio River than anywhere else across the north-south frontier. Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, the bestselling novel that fueled abolitionist work, was the best known of the anti-slavery novels that portrayed such escapes across the Ohio. The times have been expressed by 20th-century novelists as well, such as the Nobel Prize-winning Toni Morrison, whose novel Beloved was adapted as a film of the same name. She also composed the libretto for the opera Margaret Garner (2005), based on the life and trial of an enslaved woman who escaped with her family across the river.

The Ohio River is considered to separate Midwestern Great Lakes states from the Upper South states, which were historically border states in the Civil War.

The colonial charter for Virginia defined its territory as extending to the north shore of the Ohio, so that the riverbed was "owned" by Virginia. Where the river serves as a boundary between states today, Congress designated the entire river to belong to the states on the east and south, i.e., West Virginia and Kentucky at the time of admission to the Union, that were divided from Virginia. Thus Wheeling Island, the largest inhabited island in the Ohio River, belongs to West Virginia, although it is closer to the Ohio shore than to the West Virginia shore. Kentucky brought suit against Indiana in the early 1980s because of the building of the Marble Hill nuclear power plant in Indiana, which would have discharged its waste water into the river.

The U.S. Supreme Court held that Kentucky's jurisdiction (and, implicitly, that of West Virginia) extended only to the low-water mark of 1793 (important because the river has been extensively dammed for navigation, so that the present river bank is north of the old low-water mark.) Similarly, in the 1990s, Kentucky challenged Illinois' right to collect taxes on a riverboat casino docked in Metropolis, citing its own control of the entire river. A private casino riverboat that docked in Evansville, Indiana, on the Ohio River opened about the same time. Although such boats cruised on the Ohio River in an oval pattern up and down, the state of Kentucky soon protested. Other states had to limit their cruises to going forwards, then reversing and going backwards on the Indiana shore only. Since 2002, Indiana has allowed its riverboat casinos to be permanently docked.

In the early 1980s, the Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area was established at Clarksville, Indiana.

• 

  The confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers is at Cairo, Illinois.

• 

  Carl D. Perkins Bridge in Portsmouth, Ohio with Ohio River and Scioto River tributary on right.

• 

  Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant, West Virginia which collapsed into the Ohio River on December 15, 1967, killing 46 persons.

• Ohio Mississippi confluence.JPG

  Mouth of the Ohio, as it feeds into the Mississippi.

• Karl Bodmer Travels in America (7).jpg

  Cave-in-rock, view on the Ohio (circa 1832): aquatint by Karl Bodmer from the book "Maximilian, Prince of Wied’s Travels in the Interior of North America, during the years 1832–1834"

River depth[link]

Lawrenceburg, Indiana, is one of many towns that use the Ohio as a shipping avenue.

The Ohio River is a naturally shallow river that was artificially deepened by a series of dams. The natural depth of the river varied from about 3 to 20 feet (0.91 to 6.1 m). The dams raise the water level and have turned the river largely into a series of reservoirs, eliminating shallow stretches and allowing for commercial navigation. From its origin to Cincinnati, the average depth is approximately 15 feet (5 m). The maximum depth is below the McAlpine Locks and Dam at the Falls of the Ohio at Louisville, Kentucky, where flood stage is reached when the water reaches 23 feet (7 m) on the lower gauge. From Louisville, the river loses depth very gradually until its confluence with the Mississippi at Cairo, Illinois, where it has an approximate depth of 19 feet (6 m).

Water levels for the Ohio River from Smithland Lock and Dam upstream to Pittsburgh are predicted daily by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Ohio River Forecast Center. The water levels for the Ohio River from Smithland Lock and Dam to Cairo, Illinois, are predicted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center. The water depth predictions are relative to each local flood plain based upon predicted rainfall in the Ohio River basin in five reports as follows:

• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Hannibal Dam, Ohio (including the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers) (click to see report)
• Willow Island Dam, Ohio, to Greenup Dam, Kentucky (including the Kanawha River) (click to see report)
• Portsmouth, Ohio, to Markland Locks and Dam, Kentucky (click to see report)
• McAlpine Locks and Dam, Kentucky, to Cannelton Locks and Dam, Indiana (click to see report)
• Newburgh Dam, Indiana, to Golconda, Illinois (click to see report)^[10]

Panorama of the Ohio at its widest point, just west of downtown Louisville, Kentucky

Cities and towns along the river[link]

Cities along the Ohio include:

Recreation[link]

The world record for the largest blue catfish 104 pounds (47.2 kg) taken in the line class was set on the Ohio River in 1999. The river also holds records for the following species for the state of Kentucky:^[11]

• Channel catfish, 32 pounds (14.5 kg)
• Longnose gar, 40 pounds (18.1 kg)
• Paddlefish, 106 pounds (48.1 kg)
• Silver carp, 9.2 pounds (4.2 kg)
• Skipjack herring, 3.1 pounds (1.4 kg)
• Saugeye, 6.58 pounds (3.0 kg)

The Ohio River from Cairo, Illinois, to Smithland, Kentucky, comprises a significant portion of the Great Loop, the circumnavigation of Eastern North America by water for recreational purposes.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

• Geography of the United States
• Islands of the Midwest
• List of crossings of the Ohio River
• List of islands of West Virginia (including islands on Ohio River)
• List of locks and dams of the Ohio River
• List of rivers of Pennsylvania
• List of variant names of the Ohio River
• Ohio and Erie Canal
• Ohio River Bridges Project
• Ohio River flood of 1937
• Watersheds of Illinois
• List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem)

References[link]

• Hay, Jerry (2010). Ohio River Guidebook, 1st Edition

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (September 2010)

Wikisource has original works written by or about: Ohio River

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ohio River

• U.S. Geological Survey: PA stream gauging stations
• Image at the confluence with the Mississippi River
• Watershed information
• Ohio River Forecast Center, which issues official river forecasts for the Ohio River and its tributaries from Smithland Lock and Dam upstream
• Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center, which issues official river forecasts for the Ohio River and its tributaries downstream of Smithland Lock and Dam

State of Ohio
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): The Buckeye State; The Mother of Presidents; Birthplace of Aviation; The Heart of It All
Motto(s): With God, all things are possible
Official language(s)	None. (English, de facto)
Demonym	Ohioan; Buckeye[1] (colloq.)
Capital (and largest city)	Columbus[2][3]
Largest metro area	Greater Cleveland or Greater Cincinnati (see footnote[4])
Area	Ranked 34th in the U.S.
- Total	44,825 sq mi (116,096 km2)
- Width	220 miles (355 km)
- Length	220 miles (355 km)
- % water	8.7
- Latitude	38° 24′ N to 41° 59′ N
- Longitude	80° 31′ W to 84° 49′ W
Population	Ranked 7th in the U.S.
- Total	11,544,951 (2011 est)[5]
- Density	282/sq mi  (109/km2) Ranked 10th in the U.S.
Elevation
- Highest point	Campbell Hill[6][7] 1,549 ft (472 m)
- Mean	850 ft  (260 m)
- Lowest point	Ohio River at Indiana border[6][7] 455 ft (139 m)
Before statehood	Northwest Territory
Admission to Union	March 1, 1803[8] (17th, declared retroactively on August 7, 1953[9])
Governor	John Kasich[10] (R)[11]
Lieutenant Governor	Mary Taylor[12] (R)[13]
Legislature	General Assembly
- Upper house	Senate
- Lower house	House of Representatives
U.S. Senators	Sherrod Brown[14] (D)[14] Rob Portman (R)
U.S. House delegation	13 Republicans, 5 Democrats (list)
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Abbreviations	OH[15] US-OH
Website	www.ohio.gov

Ohio (ⁱ/oʊˈhaɪ.oʊ/) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Ohio is the 34th most extensive, the 7th most populous, and the 10th most densely populated of the 50 United States. The state's capital and largest city is Columbus.

The name "Ohio" originated from Iroquois word ohi-yo’, meaning "great river".^{[16][17][18][19][20]} The state, originally partitioned from the Northwest Territory, was admitted to the Union as the 17th state (and the first under the Northwest Ordinance) on March 1, 1803.^[8][21] Although there are conflicting narratives regarding the origin of the nickname, Ohio is historically known as the "Buckeye State" (relating to the Ohio buckeye tree) and Ohioans are also known as "Buckeyes".^[1]

The government of Ohio is composed of the executive branch, led by the Governor; the legislative branch, which comprises the Ohio General Assembly; and the judicial branch, which is led by the Supreme Court. Currently, Ohio occupies 18 seats in the United States House of Representatives.^[22] Ohio is known for its status as both a swing state^[23] and a bellwether^[23] in national elections.

Geography[link]

Ohio's geographic location has proven to be an asset for economic growth and expansion. Because Ohio links the Northeast to the Midwest, much cargo and business traffic passes through its borders along its well-developed highways. Ohio has the nation's 10th largest highway network, and is within a one-day drive of 50% of North America's population and 70% of North America's manufacturing capacity.^[24] To the north, Lake Erie gives Ohio 312 miles (502 km) of coastline,^[25] which allows for numerous seaports. Ohio's southern border is defined by the Ohio River (with the border being at the 1793 low-water mark on the north side of the river), and much of the northern border is defined by Lake Erie. Ohio's neighbors are Pennsylvania to the east, Michigan to the northwest, Ontario Canada, to the north, Indiana to the west, Kentucky on the south, and West Virginia on the southeast. Ohio's borders were defined by metes and bounds in the Enabling Act of 1802 as follows:

Bounded on the east by the Pennsylvania line, on the south by the Ohio River, to the mouth of the Great Miami River, on the west by the line drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami aforesaid, and on the north by an east and west line drawn through the southerly extreme of Lake Michigan, running east after intersecting the due north line aforesaid, from the mouth of the Great Miami until it shall intersect Lake Erie or the territorial line, and thence with the same through Lake Erie to the Pennsylvania line aforesaid.

The Ohio coast of Lake Erie.

Note that Ohio is bounded by the Ohio River, but nearly all of the river itself belongs to Kentucky and West Virginia. In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court held that, based on the wording of the cessation of territory by Virginia (which, at that time included what is now Kentucky and West Virginia), the boundary between Ohio and Kentucky (and by implication, West Virginia) is the northern low-water mark of the river as it existed in 1792.^[26] Ohio has only that portion of the river between the river's 1792 low-water mark and the present high-water mark.

The border with Michigan has also changed, as a result of the Toledo War, to angle slightly northeast to the north shore of the mouth of the Maumee River.

Much of Ohio features glaciated plains, with an exceptionally flat area in the northwest being known as the Great Black Swamp. This glaciated region in the northwest and central state is bordered to the east and southeast first by a belt known as the glaciated Allegheny Plateau, and then by another belt known as the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau. Most of Ohio is of low relief, but the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau features rugged hills and forests.

Physical geography of Ohio.

The rugged southeastern quadrant of Ohio, stretching in an outward bow-like arc along the Ohio River from the West Virginia Panhandle to the outskirts of Cincinnati, forms a distinct socio-economic unit. Geologically similar to parts of West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania, this area's coal mining legacy, dependence on small pockets of old manufacturing establishments, and distinctive regional dialect set this section off from the rest of the state. In 1965 the United States Congress passed the Appalachian Regional Development Act, at attempt to "address the persistent poverty and growing economic despair of the Appalachian Region."^[27] This act defines 29 Ohio counties as part of Appalachia.^[28] While 1/3 of Ohio's land mass is part of the federally defined Appalachian region, only 12.8% of Ohioans live there (1.476 million people.)^[29]

Map of Ohio.

Significant rivers within the state include the Cuyahoga River, Great Miami River, Maumee River, Muskingum River, and Scioto River. The rivers in the northern part of the state drain into the northern Atlantic Ocean via Lake Erie and the St. Lawrence River, and the rivers in the southern part of the state drain into the Gulf of Mexico via the Ohio River and then the Mississippi.

The worst weather disaster in Ohio history occurred along the Great Miami River in 1913. Known as the Great Dayton Flood, the entire Miami River watershed flooded, including the downtown business district of Dayton. As a result, the Miami Conservancy District was created as the first major flood plain engineering project in Ohio and the United States.^[30]

Grand Lake St. Marys in the west central part of the state was constructed as a supply of water for canals in the canal-building era of 1820–1850. For many years this body of water, over 20 square miles (52 km²), was the largest artificial lake in the world. It should be noted that Ohio's canal-building projects were not the economic fiasco that similar efforts were in other states. Some cities, such as Dayton, owe their industrial emergence to location on canals, and as late as 1910 interior canals carried much of the bulk freight of the state.

Climate[link]

The climate of Ohio is a humid continental climate (Koppen climate classification Dfa) throughout most of the state except in the extreme southern counties of Ohio's Bluegrass region section which are located on the northern periphery of the humid subtropical climate and Upland South region of the United States. Summers are typically hot and humid throughout the state, while winters generally range from cool to cold. Precipitation in Ohio is moderate year-round. Severe weather is not uncommon in the state, although there are typically fewer tornado reports in Ohio than in states located in what is known as the Tornado Alley. Severe lake effect snowstorms are also not uncommon on the southeast shore of Lake Erie, which is located in an area designated as the Snowbelt.

Although predominantly not in a subtropical climate, some warmer-climate flora and fauna does reach well into Ohio. For instance, a number of trees with more southern ranges, such as the blackjack oak, Quercus marilandica, are found at their northernmost in Ohio just north of the Ohio River. Also evidencing this climatic transition from a subtropical to continental climate, several plants such as the Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), Albizia julibrissin (mimosa), Crape Myrtle, and even the occasional Needle Palm are hardy landscape materials regularly used as street, yard, and garden plantings in the Bluegrass region of Ohio; but these same plants will simply not thrive in much of the rest of the State. This interesting change may be observed while traveling through Ohio on Interstate 75 from Cincinnati to Toledo; the observant traveler of this diverse state may even catch a glimpse of Cincinnati's common wall lizard, one of the few examples of permanent "subtropical" fauna in Ohio.

Records[link]

The highest recorded temperature was 113 °F (45 °C), near Gallipolis on July 21, 1934.^[31] The lowest recorded temperature was −39 °F (−39 °C), at Milligan on February 10, 1899.^[32]

Earthquakes[link]

Although few have registered as noticeable to the average citizen, more than 30 earthquakes occurred in Ohio between 2002 and 2007, and more than 200 quakes with a magnitude of 2.0 or higher have occurred since 1776.^[33]

The most substantial known earthquake in Ohio history was the Anna (Shelby County) earthquake,^[34] which occurred on March 9, 1937. It was centered in western Ohio, and had a magnitude of 5.4, and was of intensity VIII.^[35]

Other significant earthquakes in Ohio include:^[36] one of magnitude 4.8 near Lima on September 19, 1884;^[37] one of magnitude 4.2 near Portsmouth on May 17, 1901;^[38] and one of 5.0 in LeRoy Township in Lake County on January 31, 1986, which continued to trigger 13 aftershocks of magnitude 0.5 to 2.4 for two months.^[39][40]

The most recent earthquake in Ohio of any appreciable magnitude occurred on December 31, 2011, at 3:05pm EST. It had a magnitude of 4.0, and its epicenter was located approximately 4 kilometres northwest of Youngstown (41°7′19.1994″N 80°41′2.3994″W / 41.121999833°N 80.683999833°W / 41.121999833; -80.683999833), near the Trumbull/Mahoning county border.^[41]

The Ohio Seismic Network (OhioSeis), a group of seismograph stations at several colleges, universities, and other institutions, and coordinated by the Division of Geological Survey of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources,^[42] maintains an extensive catalog of Ohio earthquakes from 1776 to the present day, as well as earthquakes located in other states whose effects were felt in Ohio.^[43]

Major cities[link]

Columbus (home of The Ohio State University, Franklin University, Capital University, and Ohio Dominican University) is the capital of Ohio, near the geographic center of the state.

Other Ohio cities functioning as centers of United States metropolitan areas include:

• Akron (home of University of Akron and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company)
• Canton (home of Pro Football Hall of Fame, Malone University, and The Timken Company)
• Cincinnati (home of University of Cincinnati, Xavier University, Cincinnati Museum Center, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Procter & Gamble, Kroger, Macy's Inc., Chiquita Brands International, and Fifth Third Bank)
• Cleveland (home of Cleveland State University, Playhouse Square Center, The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Cleveland Orchestra, Case Western Reserve University, The Cleveland Clinic, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Forest City Enterprises, and University Hospitals)
• Dayton (home of University of Dayton, Dayton Ballet, Wright State University, Premier Health Partners, and National Museum of the United States Air Force)
• Lima (home of University of Northwestern Ohio)
• Mansfield (home of North Central State College and Mansfield Motorsports Park)
• Sandusky (home of Cedar Point, and Kalahari Resort and Convention Center)
• Springfield (home of Wittenberg University)
• Steubenville (home of Franciscan University of Steubenville)
• Toledo (home of The University of Toledo, The Toledo Museum of Art, Owens Corning, and Owens-Illinois)
• Youngstown (home of Youngstown State University and Butler Institute of American Art).

Note: The Cincinnati metropolitan area extends into Kentucky and Indiana, the Steubenville metropolitan area extends into West Virginia, and the Youngstown metropolitan area extends into Pennsylvania.

Ohio cities that function as centers of United States micropolitan areas include:

• Ashland (home of Ashland University)
• Ashtabula
• Athens (home of Ohio University)
• Bellefontaine
• Bucyrus
• Cambridge
• Celina
• Chillicothe (home of Ohio University-Chillicothe)
• Coshocton
• Defiance (home of Defiance College)
• East Liverpool-Salem
• Findlay (home of The University of Findlay)
• Fremont
• Greenville
• Marion (home of Marion Popcorn Festival)
• Mount Vernon (home of Mount Vernon Nazarene University)
• New Philadelphia-Dover
• Norwalk (home of the NHRA venue Summit Motorsports Park, headquarters of the International Hot Rod Association, and pioneer automobile company Fisher Body)
• Oxford (home of Miami University)
• Portsmouth (home of Shawnee State University)
• Sidney
• Tiffin (home of Heidelberg College and Tiffin University)
• Urbana (home of Urbana University)
• Van Wert
• Wapakoneta (birthplace of Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong)
• Washington Court House
• Wilmington (home of Wilmington College)
• Wooster (home of The College of Wooster)
• Zanesville (home of Zane State College).

History[link]

Native Americans[link]

Archeological evidence suggests that the Ohio Valley was inhabited by nomadic people as early as 13,000 BC.^[46] These early nomads disappeared from Ohio by 1,000 BC, "but their material culture provided a base for those who followed them".^[46] Between 1,000 and 800 BC, the sedentary Adena culture emerged. As Ohio historian George W. Knepper notes, this sophisticated culture was "so named because evidences of their culture were excavated in 1902 on the grounds of Adena, Thomas Worthington's estate located near Chillicothe".^[47] The Adena were able to establish "semi-permanent" villages because they domesticated plants, which included squash, sunflowers, and perhaps corn. Cultivation of these in addition to hunting and gathering supported more settled, complex villages.^[47] The most spectacular remnant of the Adena culture is the Great Serpent Mound, located in Adams County, Ohio.^[47]

Around 100 BC, the Adena were joined in Ohio Country by the Hopewell people, who were named for the farm owned by Captain M. C. Hopewell, where evidence of their unique culture was discovered.^[48] Like the Adena, the Hopewell people participated in a mound-building culture. Their complex, large and technologically sophisticated earthworks can be found in modern-day Marietta, Newark, and Circleville.^[48] The Hopewell, however, disappeared from the Ohio Valley in about 600 AD. Little is known about the people who replaced them.^[49] Researchers have identified two additional, distinct prehistoric cultures: the Fort Ancient people and the Whittlesey Focus people.^[49] Both cultures apparently disappeared in the 17th century, perhaps decimated by infectious diseases spread in epidemics from early European contact. The Native Americans had no immunity to common European diseases. Some scholars believe that the Fort Ancient people "were ancestors of the historic Shawnee people, or that, at the very least, the historic Shawnees absorbed remnants of these older peoples."^[49]

American Indians in the Ohio Valley were greatly affected by the aggressive tactics of the Iroquois Confederation, based in central and western New York.^[50] After the so-called Beaver Wars in the mid-17th century, the Iroquois claimed much of the Ohio country as hunting and, more importantly, beaver-trapping ground. After the devastation of epidemics and war in the mid-17th century, which largely emptied the Ohio country of indigenous people by the mid-to-late 17th century, the land gradually became repopulated by the mostly Algonquian-speaking descendants of its ancient inhabitants, that is, descendants of the Adena, Hopewell, and Mississippian cultures. Many of these Ohio-country nations were multi-ethnic (sometimes multi-linguistic) societies born out of the earlier devastation brought about by disease, war, and subsequent social instability. They subsisted on agriculture (corn, sunflowers, beans, etc.) supplemented by seasonal hunts. By the 18th century, they were part of a larger global economy brought about by European entry into the fur trade.^[51]

The indigenous nations to inhabit Ohio in the historical period included the Miamis (a large confederation); Wyandots (made up of refugees, especially from the fractured Huron confederacy); Delawares (pushed west from their historic homeland in New Jersey); Shawnees (also pushed west, although they may have been descended from the Fort Ancient people of Ohio); Ottawas (more commonly associated with the upper Great Lakes region); Mingos (like the Wyandot, a group recently formed of refugees from Iroquois); and Eries (gradually absorbed into the new, multi-ethnic "republics," namely the Wyandot).^[52] Ohio country was also the site of Indian massacres, such as the Yellow Creek Massacre, Gnadenhutten and Pontiac's Rebellion school massacre.^[53]

Colonial and Revolutionary eras[link]

During the 18th century, the French set up a system of trading posts to control the fur trade in the region. In 1754, France and Great Britain fought a war that was known in North America as the French and Indian War and in Europe as the Seven Years War. As a result of the Treaty of Paris, the French ceded control of Ohio and the remainder of the Old Northwest to Great Britain.

Pontiac's Rebellion in the 1760s, however, posed a challenge to British military control.^[54] This came to an end with the colonists' victory in the American Revolution. In the Treaty of Paris in 1783, Britain ceded all claims to Ohio country to the United States.

Northwest Territory: 1787–1803[link]

Plaque commemorating the Northwest Ordinance outside Federal Hall in lower Manhattan

The United States created the Northwest Territory under the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.^[55] Slavery was not permitted in the new territory. Settlement began with the founding of Marietta by the Ohio Company of Associates, which had been formed by a group of American Revolutionary War veterans. Following the Ohio Company, the Miami Company (also referred to as the "Symmes Purchase") claimed the southwestern section, and the Connecticut Land Company surveyed and settled the Connecticut Western Reserve in present-day Northeast Ohio.

The old Northwest Territory originally included areas previously known as Ohio Country and Illinois Country. As Ohio prepared for statehood, the Indiana Territory was created, reducing the Northwest Territory to approximately the size of present-day Ohio plus the eastern half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and the eastern tip of the Upper Peninsula.

Under the Northwest Ordinance, areas of the territory could be defined and admitted as states once their population reached 60,000. Although Ohio's population numbered only 45,000 in December 1801, Congress determined that the population was growing rapidly and Ohio could begin the path to statehood. The assumption was that it would exceed 60,000 residents by the time it was admitted as a state.

Statehood: 1803–present[link]

James A. Garfield, President of United States from Ohio.

On February 19, 1803, President Jefferson signed an act of Congress that approved Ohio's boundaries and constitution. However, Congress had never passed a resolution formally admitting Ohio as the 17th state. The current custom of Congress declaring an official date of statehood did not begin until 1812, with Louisiana's admission as the 18th state. Although no formal resolution of admission was required, when the oversight was discovered in 1953, Ohio congressman George H. Bender introduced a bill in Congress to admit Ohio to the Union retroactive to March 1, 1803. At a special session at the old state capital in Chillicothe, the Ohio state legislature approved a new petition for statehood that was delivered to Washington, D.C. on horseback. On August 7, 1953 (the year of Ohio's 150th anniversary), President Eisenhower signed an act that officially declared March 1, 1803 the date of Ohio's admittance into the Union.^[56][57]

Although many Native Americans had migrated west to evade American encroachment, others remained settled in the state, sometimes assimilating in part. In 1830 under President Andrew Jackson, the US government forced Indian Removal of most tribes to the Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River.

In 1835, Ohio fought with Michigan in the Toledo War, a mostly bloodless boundary war over the Toledo Strip. Congress intervened, making Michigan's admittance as a state conditional on ending the conflict. In exchange for giving up its claim to the Toledo Strip, Michigan was given the western two-thirds of the Upper Peninsula, in addition to the eastern third that was already considered part of the state.

Ohio state welcome sign, in an older (1990s) style

Ohio's central position and its population gave it an important place during the Civil War. The Ohio River was a vital artery for troop and supply movements, as were Ohio's railroads. Ohio contributed more soldiers per-capita than any other state in the Union. In 1862, the state's morale was badly shaken in the aftermath of the battle of Shiloh, a costly victory in which Ohio forces suffered 2,000 casualties.^[58] Later that year, when Confederate troops under the leadership of Stonewall Jackson threatened Washington, D.C., Ohio governor David Tod still could recruit 5,000 volunteers to provide three months of service.^[59] Ohio historian Andrew R. L. Cayton writes that almost 35,000 Ohioans died in the conflict, "and some thirty thousand carried battle scars with them for the rest of their lives."^[60] By the end of the Civil War, the Union's top three generals–Ulysses S. Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, and Philip Sheridan–were all from Ohio.^[61][62]

In 1912 a Constitutional Convention was held with Charles B. Galbreath as secretary. The result reflected the concerns of the Progressive Era. It introduced the initiative and the referendum. In addition, it allowed the General Assembly to put questions on the ballot for the people to ratify laws and constitutional amendments originating in the Legislature. Under the Jeffersonian principle that laws should be reviewed once a generation, the constitution provided for a recurring question to appear on Ohio's general election ballots every 20 years. The question asks whether a new convention is required. Although the question has appeared in 1932, 1952, 1972, and 1992, it has never been approved. Instead constitutional amendments have been proposed by petition to the legislature hundreds of times and adopted in a majority of cases.

Eight U.S. presidents hailed from Ohio at the time of their elections, giving rise to its nickname "Mother of Presidents", a sobriquet it shares with Virginia. It is also termed "Modern Mother of Presidents,"^[63] in contrast to Virginia's status as the origin of presidents earlier in American history. Seven presidents were born in Ohio, making it second to Virginia's eight. Virginia-born William Henry Harrison lived most of his life in Ohio and is also buried there. Harrison conducted his political career while living on the family compound, founded by his father-in-law, John Cleves Symmes, in North Bend, Ohio. The seven presidents born in Ohio were Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Benjamin Harrison (grandson of William Henry Harrison), William McKinley, William Howard Taft and Warren G. Harding.

Demographics[link]

Population[link]

From just over 45,000 residents in 1800, Ohio's population grew at rates of over 10% per decade until the census of 1970, which recorded just over 10.65 million Ohioans.^[65] Growth then slowed for the next four decades.^[66] The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Ohio was 11,544,951 on July 1, 2011, a 0.07% increase since the 2010 United States Census.^[5] Ohio's population growth lags that of the entire United States, and Caucasians are found in a greater density than the United States average. As of 2000^[update], Ohio's center of population is located in Morrow County,^[67] in the county seat of Mount Gilead.^[68] This is approximately 6,346 feet (1,934 m) south and west of Ohio's population center in 1990.^[67]

As of 2007^[update], 6.5% of Ohio's population is under 5 years of age,^[69] compared to a national rate of 6.9%.^[70] Also, 13.4% of Ohio's population is over 65 years of age,^[69] compared to a United States rate of 12.6%.^[70] Females comprise 51.3% of Ohio's population,^[69] compared to a national rate of 50.8%.^[70]

As of 2007, 3.6% of Ohio's total population is estimated to be foreign-born,^[71] compared to an estimated 12.5% of the United States population.^[71]

Ohio's five largest ancestry groups, as of 2007, are:^[72]

1. German (28.9%);
2. Irish (14.8%);
3. English (10.1%);
4. Polish (8.4%);
5. Italian (6.4%).

Amish children on the way to school.

The American Community Survey for the U.S. Census for 2006 reported:^[73]

• 82.8% White (non-Hispanic);
• 11.8% Black (non-Hispanic);
• 2.3% Hispanic, a category that includes people of many races;
• 1.5% Asian/Pacific Islander
• 1.3% mixed race
• 0.2% Native American/Alaskan Native
• 0.1% other races.

Religion[link]

According to a Pew Forum poll, as of 2008, 76% of Ohioans identified as Christian.^[74] Specifically, 26% of Ohio's population identified as Evangelical Protestant, 22% identified as Mainline Protestant, and 21% identified as Roman Catholic.^[74] In addition, 17% of the population is unaffiliated with any religious body.^[74] There are also small minorities of Jehovah's Witnesses (1%), Jews (1%), Muslims (1%), Hindus (<0.5%), Buddhists (<0.5%), Mormons (<0.5%), and practitioners of other faiths (1-1.5%).^[74]