Coshocton County, Ohio

Coshocton County is a county in Ohio, United States, in the east-central part of the state, about 63 miles east-northeast of Columbus. It had a population of 36,612 at the 2020 census, an estimated 36,744 by 2024, and covers 567 square miles (1,470 km2) centred near 40°18′N 81°55′W.

Coshocton is the county seat and the county’s only city; its postal code is 43812. The county holds 1 city, 5 incorporated villages and 2 census-designated places across 22 townships, and it runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 39031.

Towns & Villages in Coshocton County

Coshocton County has 25 named places on record: 1 city, 5 incorporated villages, 2 census-designated places (CDPs) and 17 unincorporated communities with no local government of their own. CDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp. covers crossroads and hamlets with no formal boundary.

The 2020 census scrape formerly published on this page mixed genuine hamlets with the names of
private mobile-home parks and trailer courts inside Coshocton — Chestnut Trailer Court,
Clover Trailer Park, Dickerson MH Park and similar entries. Those are residential developments,
not recognized communities, and are not carried over here. Keene Township holds both the
unincorporated community of Keene and part of the Canal Lewisville CDP, which straddles the
Keene–Tuscarawas township line.

Townships

ZIP Codes

• 43812 — Coshocton (the county’s most populous ZIP, covers most of Tuscarawas Township)
• 43845 — West Lafayette
• 43844 — Warsaw
• 43811 — Conesville
• 43836 — Plainfield
• 43824 — Fresno

Canal Lewisville, Nellie and most of the county’s smaller unincorporated hamlets — Keene,
Bakersville, Chili, Walhonding and the rest — have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is
delivered under the nearest post office town’s code.

Geography

Coshocton County sits in Ohio’s Appalachian foothills, a belt of forested ridges and river
valleys east of the flatter glaciated plains. Of its 567 square miles, 564 are land and 3.6 are
water, about 0.6 percent. The Walhonding River and the Tuscarawas River meet at the city of
Coshocton to form the Muskingum River, which then runs south through the county toward
Zanesville — a confluence that gave the county its name, from a Delaware-language word
usually translated as “union of waters.”

Holmes County lies to the north, Tuscarawas County to the east, Guernsey County to the
southeast, Muskingum County to the south, Licking County to the southwest, and Knox County to
the west. Holmes County, Tuscarawas County, Guernsey County, Muskingum County, Licking County and Knox County all border Coshocton directly.

Demographics

Coshocton County had a population of 36,612 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts
the county near 36,744 residents, essentially flat over the past several years. Coshocton and
West Lafayette are the two largest communities, together holding well over a third of the
county’s population. Median household income runs about $55,577, well below Ohio’s statewide
figure of $67,769 (2023 ACS). Population density works out to roughly 65 people per square mile
of land, sparse for Ohio outside its metro counties. An Amish and Mennonite community made up
7.4 percent of county residents at the 2020 census, concentrated in the county’s northern
townships near the Holmes County line.

Economy & Local Life

Manufacturing employs the most workers in the county, about 3,711 people, followed by retail
trade at 1,979 and health care and social assistance at 1,850. For decades the AEP Conesville
Power Plant, on the Muskingum River east of Conesville village, was one of the county’s largest
single employers; it operated from 1957 until it shut down in 2020 and was demolished in 2021.
Roscoe Village, a restored 19th-century canal town inside the city of Coshocton, anchors the
county’s tourism economy — it holds the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum and a cluster of
Greek Revival buildings from the community’s days as a wheat port on the Ohio and Erie Canal.

History

Ohio’s legislature formed Coshocton County on 31 January 1810, carving it out of Muskingum
and Tuscarawas Counties, and the county government organized in 1811. Coshocton, laid out in
1802 as Tuscarawas and renamed on becoming county seat, grew as a river town at the meeting
point of the Walhonding and Tuscarawas Rivers.

The canal era reshaped the county’s economy. The first canal boat, the Monticello, landed at
what was then the separate village of Roscoe on 21 August 1830, and the Ohio and Erie Canal made
Roscoe the fourth-largest wheat-shipping port on the entire waterway. The Great Flood of 1913 and
the rise of the railroads ended the canal trade. Restoration of Roscoe as a heritage site began in
1968, after industrialist Edward E. Montgomery bought the 1840 Toll House and set out to rebuild
it as what he called a living museum of 19th-century canal life.

Getting There

No interstate highway crosses Coshocton County. US 36 runs through the city of Coshocton on an
east–west line, meeting State Route 16, State Route 83 and State Route 60 there.

• Newark — about 30 miles southwest
• New Philadelphia — about 25 miles northeast
• Zanesville — about 25 miles south
• Mount Vernon — about 30 miles west

Richard Downing Airport, about three miles north of downtown Coshocton, handles general
aviation. Port Columbus International Airport, roughly 65 miles west, is the nearest major
commercial airport, and the county has no Amtrak station.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Coshocton County located?
It sits in Ohio’s Appalachian foothills, about 63 miles east-northeast of Columbus, bordered
by Holmes, Tuscarawas, Guernsey, Muskingum, Licking and Knox counties.

What is the population of Coshocton County?
36,612 at the 2020 census, with a recent estimate near 36,744.

How big is Coshocton County?
567 square miles (1,470 km2), of which 564 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Coshocton County?
Coshocton is the county seat and the county’s only incorporated city.

How many towns and villages are in Coshocton County?
One city and five incorporated villages — Coshocton, West Lafayette, Warsaw, Conesville,
Plainfield and Nellie — plus two census-designated places and 17 unincorporated
communities.

What ZIP codes does Coshocton County use?
43812 for Coshocton, 43845 for West Lafayette, 43844 for Warsaw, 43811 for Conesville, 43836 for
Plainfield and 43824 for Fresno.

What is Coshocton County known for?
Roscoe Village, a restored Ohio and Erie Canal town inside Coshocton, and the confluence of the
Walhonding and Tuscarawas Rivers that forms the Muskingum River.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Ohio.