A Brief History of Hocking County
As part of a heavy volume of varied enactments the legislature of 1817 authorized the creation of a number of new counties in the state of Ohio. On 3 January 1818 Hocking County was formed by an act of the Ohio legislature. This act became effective on 31 March 1818. Governor Thomas Worthington may have had some influence in the cutting off of portions of Ross, Fairfield, and Athens Counties & combining these tracts into a new county named "Hocking." The new village of Logan was designated as the seat of government for the new county. The name of this county is taken from the Hockhocking River, which flowed through the county. Hockhocking in the language of the Delaware Indians, signifies a bottle (the shape of the river).
Hocking County originally contained 432 sq. miles but was reduced to 411 sq. miles in 1850 as a result of further creation of new counties. Permanent settlers were mostly of German and Anglo-Saxon origins and generally came from states bordering Ohio, especially Pennsylvania and Virginia. Groups of German colonists migrated directly from their fatherland. By 1880 about 41% of the population was of German descent. The original boundaries included: Green, Falls, Falls-Gore, Good Hope, Laurel, Salt Creek, Benton, Washington, Swan, Jackson, Eagle, western half of Starr and Brown, southern 2/7 of Perry, and the southern 2/3 of Marion Townships.
The first court was held in Hocking County in the Fall of 1818.
The first deed dated 15 April 1818 was recorded in Book A, Folio 1 from John & Phoebe Pence to Robert Long.
The first marriage recorded (not the first marriage) between Thomas O'Neil and Nancy Lee was dated 4 May 1818.
The first meeting of the County Commissioners was held 25 April 1818.
The following appeared in the Lancaster Gazette on 27 December 1828-A bill was introduced in the State Legislature providing for the disorganization of Hocking County. This bill obviously did not pass!
1 March 1834-Eagle Township which was not a full township but only 30 sq. miles was relinquished to Ross County. Thus reducing the size of Hocking County to 402 sq. miles.
12 March 1845-The county was increased to 438 sq. miles and then in 1850 Jackson, Swan, and Brown Townships were lost but Hocking County gained Ward Township from Athens County, the remaining 1/3 of Marion Township, and the whole township of Perry from Fairfield County. Since then there have been no boundary changes, as the State Constitution of 1851 required each county to contain 400 sq. miles.
The following townships have been in existence in Hocking County since 1851: Benton, Falls, Good Hope, Green, Laurel, Marion, Perry, Salt Creek, Starr, Washington, and Ward.
Hocking County is bounded on the north by Fairfield and Perry Counties, on the east by Perry and Athens Counties, on the south by Vinton and Athens Counties, and on the west by Pickaway and Ross Counties.
Contents ©1999 by Karen S. Smith