Guernsey County, Ohio

Guernsey County is a county in Ohio, United States, about 80 miles east of Columbus at the junction of Interstate 70 and Interstate 77. It had a population of 38,438 at the 2020 census, an estimated 38,223 by 2024, and covers 528 square miles (1,370 km2) centred near 40°03′N 81°30′W.

Cambridge is the county seat and the county’s only city; its postal code is 43725. The county holds 1 city, 8 incorporated villages and a scatter of smaller unincorporated communities across 19 townships, and it runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 39059.

Towns & Villages in Guernsey County

Guernsey County has 22 named places verified against Census and USPS records: one city, eight incorporated villages, three census-designated places (CDPs) with no local government, and ten unincorporated communities that are little more than a crossroads or a former post office stop.

Lore City is a genuine straddler, not a duplicate: its village limits reach across three townships at once — Wills, Center and Richland — which is why older county lists sometimes counted it twice. Salesville shows up in some directories as a village; it disincorporated in 2015 and is now tracked as a CDP with no elected government of its own. Fairview also crosses a county line, extending a short distance into neighboring Belmont County, so its 67 residents are not entirely a Guernsey County figure. The dozens of trailer-park, subdivision and cottage-area names that circulated on older versions of this page — Adairs Trailer Park, Coventry Estates, Ridgewood Acres and similar — are private developments, not incorporated or census-recognized places, and have been dropped for lack of an independent source.

ZIP Codes

• 43725 — Cambridge (the county’s main ZIP)
• 43750 — a secondary Cambridge-area ZIP
• 43723 — Byesville
• 43732 — Cumberland
• 43736 — Fairview
• 43749 — Kimbolton
• 43755 — Lore City
• 43768 — Old Washington
• 43772 — Pleasant City
• 43773 — Quaker City
• 43778 — Salesville
• 43780 — Senecaville
• 43722 — Buffalo

Antrim, Birmingham, Claysville, Derwent, Elizabethtown, Guernsey, Kings Mine, Kipling, Opperman and Walhonding have no ZIP code of their own; mail to those crossroads communities is delivered under the nearest incorporated town’s code.

Geography

Guernsey County sits in east-central Ohio’s Appalachian foothills, a belt of forested ridges and narrow valleys well east of the state’s flatter glaciated plains. Of its 528 square miles, 522 are land and about 6 are water — a small share, but the county’s largest lake, Salt Fork Lake, is a major feature on its own. Salt Fork Lake formed behind an earthen dam completed in 1967, six miles north of Lore City, and sits inside Salt Fork State Park, Ohio’s largest state park at more than 17,000 acres of land and nearly 3,000 acres of water. Wills Creek and its tributaries drain most of the county’s central and eastern townships toward the Muskingum River.

Tuscarawas County lies to the north, Harrison County to the northeast, Belmont County to the east, Noble County to the south, Muskingum County to the west and Coshocton County to the northwest. Tuscarawas County, Harrison County, Belmont County, Noble County, Muskingum County and Coshocton County all border Guernsey directly.

Demographics

Guernsey County had a population of 38,438 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the county near 38,223 residents, essentially flat over the past several years. Cambridge and Byesville are the two largest communities, together holding roughly a third of the county’s population. Median household income runs $58,478, well below Ohio’s statewide figure of $67,769. Population density works out to about 74 people per square mile of land, low even by the standards of Ohio’s Appalachian counties, reflecting the county’s rural, small-town character outside the Cambridge micropolitan core.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 2,774 people, followed by manufacturing at 2,643 and retail trade at 2,074. OhioHealth Southeastern Medical Center in Cambridge, an 84-bed hospital with roughly 900 employees across its affiliated services, is the county’s single largest employer. Manufacturing traces back to Cambridge’s early-1900s glass industry: Cambridge Glass and Boyd Glass have both closed, but Mosser Glass still operates in the city, and the county remains a name collectors recognize. The county’s biggest annual event is Dickens Victorian Village, when historic downtown Cambridge along Wheeling Avenue fills with lighted Victorian storefront scenes each November through early January.

History

Ohio’s legislature organized Guernsey County on 10 March 1810, carving it from parts of Muskingum and Belmont counties; the county’s present boundaries were not finalized until 1851. It takes its name from the Isle of Guernsey in the English Channel, the origin of many of the area’s earliest settlers. Cambridge was first settled in 1798 around a ferry crossing on Wills Creek and platted as a town in 1806.

The National Road reached Cambridge in 1828, and the S-shaped bridges built for it over Wills Creek still stand as a local landmark from that era. The first railroad arrived in 1854. In late June 1998, Cambridge suffered significant flood damage when heavy rain overwhelmed Wills Creek and its tributaries, one of the more severe local flood events on record.

Getting There

Interstate 70 and Interstate 77 cross the county and meet just south of downtown Cambridge, making it one of only a few Ohio county seats sitting directly at an interstate junction. US 22 and US 40 run concurrently through Cambridge as the city’s main commercial corridor, alongside State Routes 209, 313, 265 and 658.

• Zanesville — about 25 miles west
• New Philadelphia — about 25 miles north
• Wheeling, West Virginia — about 35 miles east
• Columbus — about 80 miles west

John Glenn Columbus International Airport, roughly 80 miles west, is the nearest major commercial airport; Cambridge Municipal Airport handles general aviation. Amtrak has no station in the county; the nearest, Alliance station on the Capitol Limited route, is roughly 80 miles north.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Guernsey County located?
It sits in east-central Ohio’s Appalachian foothills, about 80 miles east of Columbus, at the junction of Interstate 70 and Interstate 77.

What is the population of Guernsey County?
38,438 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate near 38,223.

How big is Guernsey County?
528 square miles (1,370 km2), of which about 522 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Guernsey County?
Cambridge, first settled in 1798 and platted in 1806, is the county seat and the county’s only city.

How many towns and villages are in Guernsey County?
One city and eight incorporated villages — Cambridge, Byesville, Cumberland, Fairview, Lore City, Old Washington, Pleasant City, Quaker City and Senecaville — plus three CDPs and ten smaller unincorporated communities.

What ZIP codes does Guernsey County use?
43725 and 43750 for Cambridge; 43723 for Byesville; and separate codes for each of the county’s other villages and CDPs, from 43722 (Buffalo) to 43780 (Senecaville).

What is Guernsey County known for?
Its glass-making history in Cambridge, Salt Fork Lake at Ohio’s largest state park, and the annual Dickens Victorian Village holiday display downtown.

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