{"id":6845,"date":"2023-08-19T21:10:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-19T21:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=6845"},"modified":"2026-08-08T08:35:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T08:35:24","slug":"gallia-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/gallia-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Gallia County, Ohio"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Gallia County is a county in Ohio, United States, on the Ohio River across from West<br \/>\nVirginia, roughly 44 miles northwest of Charleston. It had a population of 29,220 at the 2020<br \/>\ncensus, an estimated 29,072 by 2025, and covers 471 square miles (1,220 km2) centred near<br \/>\n38\u00b050\u2032N 82\u00b019\u2032W.<\/p>\n<p>Gallipolis is the county seat and largest village; its postal code is 45631. The county holds<br \/>\n6 incorporated villages and 5 unincorporated communities across 15 townships, and it runs on<br \/>\nEastern Time. Its FIPS code is 39053.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Gallia County<\/h2>\n<p>Gallia County has 11 named places on record: 6 incorporated villages (Ohio has no<br \/>\n&#8220;towns&#8221; &#8212; every incorporated place under 5,000 residents is legally a village)<br \/>\nand 5 unincorporated communities with no local government of their own. CDP stands for census<br \/>\ndesignated place; Unincorp. covers hamlets and crossroads with a post office history but no<br \/>\nformal boundary.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Township<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Gallipolis<\/td>\n<td>Village &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>Gallipolis<\/td>\n<td>3,313<\/td>\n<td>45631<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Rio Grande<\/td>\n<td>Village<\/td>\n<td>Raccoon<\/td>\n<td>724<\/td>\n<td>45674<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Crown City<\/td>\n<td>Village<\/td>\n<td>Guyan<\/td>\n<td>424<\/td>\n<td>45623<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Bidwell<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>Springfield<\/td>\n<td>863<\/td>\n<td>45614<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Cheshire<\/td>\n<td>Village<\/td>\n<td>Cheshire<\/td>\n<td>123<\/td>\n<td>45620<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Vinton<\/td>\n<td>Village<\/td>\n<td>Huntington<\/td>\n<td>224<\/td>\n<td>45686<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Kanauga<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>Gallipolis<\/td>\n<td>185<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Centerville<\/td>\n<td>Village<\/td>\n<td>Raccoon<\/td>\n<td>87<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Patriot<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>Perry<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>45658<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Kerr<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>Springfield<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>45643<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Northup<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>Green<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Centerville is also known locally as Thurman, and both names appear on maps and mail alike.<br \/>\nBidwell&#8217;s 2020 count of 863 makes it the county&#8217;s biggest unincorporated community,<br \/>\nbigger than three of the six incorporated villages, because it has never filed to incorporate.<br \/>\nKanauga sits mostly in Gallipolis Township but its northern edge crosses into Addison Township.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>45631 &mdash; Gallipolis (the county&#8217;s most populous ZIP)<\/li>\n<li>45674 &mdash; Rio Grande, home to the University of Rio Grande<\/li>\n<li>45623 &mdash; Crown City<\/li>\n<li>45614 &mdash; Bidwell<\/li>\n<li>45620 &mdash; Cheshire<\/li>\n<li>45686 &mdash; Vinton<\/li>\n<li>45658 &mdash; Patriot<\/li>\n<li>45643 &mdash; Kerr<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Kanauga, Centerville and Northup have no ZIP of their own; mail there is delivered under a<br \/>\nneighbouring town&#8217;s code, and Northup&#8217;s own post office, opened in 1858, closed<br \/>\ndecades ago.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Gallia County lies in Ohio&#8217;s unglaciated Appalachian Plateau, a hill country of steep<br \/>\nridges and narrow valleys that was never flattened by the ice sheets that leveled the state&#8217;s<br \/>\nnorth. Of its 471 square miles, 467 are land and 4.7 are water, about 1 percent, all of it the<br \/>\nOhio River and its tributary creeks rather than any natural lake. The Ohio River forms the<br \/>\ncounty&#8217;s entire southern and eastern border, and Raccoon Creek, which crosses the county<br \/>\nfrom north to south through Green and Huntington townships, is the largest inland waterway. Part<br \/>\nof Wayne National Forest reaches into the county&#8217;s northern townships.<\/p>\n<p>Vinton County and Jackson County lie to the north, Lawrence County to the southwest, and the<br \/>\nOhio River separates the county from Mason County and Cabell County in West Virginia to the<br \/>\nsouth and east; Meigs County borders to the northeast. <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/vinton-county\/\">Vinton County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/jackson-county-ohio\/\">Jackson County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/lawrence-county-ohio\/\">Lawrence County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/cabell-county\/\">Cabell County<\/a> and <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/meigs-county\/\">Meigs County<\/a> all have their own pages on<br \/>\nthis site; Mason County, West Virginia does not.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Gallia County had a population of 29,220 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the<br \/>\ncounty near 29,072 residents, essentially flat. Gallipolis and the Bidwell area are the two<br \/>\nlargest population centers, with Gallipolis alone holding over a tenth of the county total.<br \/>\nMedian household income runs $56,830, well below Ohio&#8217;s statewide figure of $67,769 (2023<br \/>\nACS). Population density works out to roughly 63 people per square mile of land, low even by<br \/>\nrural Appalachian Ohio standards, reflecting the county&#8217;s hill terrain and its distance from<br \/>\nany interstate.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Health care and social assistance is the county&#8217;s largest employment sector, with about<br \/>\n2,526 workers, followed by manufacturing at 1,591 and educational services at 1,520. Holzer<br \/>\nHealth System, headquartered in Gallipolis, is the county&#8217;s dominant health care employer<br \/>\nand runs the regional hospital. American Electric Power&#8217;s General James M. Gavin coal-fired<br \/>\npower plant, on the Ohio River south of Cheshire, and the Ohio Valley Electric Corporation&#8217;s<br \/>\nKyger Creek plant nearby are major industrial employers and the reason Cheshire itself shrank<br \/>\nsharply after a 2002 buyout settlement over plant emissions. Rio Grande is home to the University<br \/>\nof Rio Grande and Rio Grande Community College, and to the original Bob Evans Farm, where Bob<br \/>\nEvans opened his first sausage business in 1948 before founding the Bob Evans Restaurants chain.<br \/>\nThe farm still draws visitors each October for its annual Farm Festival.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>Ohio&#8217;s General Assembly formed Gallia County on 25 March 1803, one of the state&#8217;s<br \/>\nfirst counties after admission to the Union. The name comes from Gallia, the Latin word for Gaul,<br \/>\nthe ancient region that became France, honoring the French colonists who founded Gallipolis in<br \/>\n1790 as &#8220;The French 500,&#8221; a group of Revolution-era emigrants recruited by a land<br \/>\ncompany that sold them titles to ground it did not actually own. Welsh settlers arrived later, in<br \/>\n1818, adding a second immigrant strand to the county&#8217;s early population.<\/p>\n<p>On 15 December 1967, the Silver Bridge linking Gallipolis to Point Pleasant, West Virginia,<br \/>\ncollapsed into the Ohio River during evening rush hour, killing 46 people. The disaster remains<br \/>\none of the deadliest bridge failures in US history and led directly to the National Bridge<br \/>\nInspection Standards that federal law still requires today.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>No interstate crosses Gallia County. US Route 35, locally named the Bob Evans Highway, enters<br \/>\nfrom West Virginia over the Silver Memorial Bridge and runs northwest through Gallipolis toward<br \/>\nJackson and Columbus. State Route 7 follows the Ohio River through the county past Crown City and<br \/>\nGallipolis, and State Route 141, State Route 160 and State Route 218 connect the inland<br \/>\ntownships.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Charleston, West Virginia &mdash; about 44 miles northeast<\/li>\n<li>Huntington, West Virginia &mdash; about 60 miles south<\/li>\n<li>Columbus, Ohio &mdash; about 100 miles northwest<\/li>\n<li>Athens, Ohio &mdash; about 70 miles north<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Tri-State Airport, three miles south of Huntington, West Virginia, is the nearest commercial<br \/>\nairport with scheduled airline service. No Amtrak line reaches Gallia County; the nearest station<br \/>\nis in Huntington on the Cardinal route.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Gallia County located?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt sits in southeastern Ohio on the Ohio River, across from West Virginia, about 44 miles<br \/>\nnorthwest of Charleston.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Gallia County?<\/strong><br \/>\n29,220 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 29,072.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Gallia County?<\/strong><br \/>\n471 square miles (1,220 km2), of which 467 square miles are land.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Gallia County?<\/strong><br \/>\nGallipolis, founded in 1790 by French settlers, is the county seat and largest village.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns and villages are in Gallia County?<\/strong><br \/>\nSix incorporated villages &mdash; Gallipolis, Rio Grande, Crown City, Cheshire, Vinton and<br \/>\nCenterville &mdash; plus the unincorporated communities of Bidwell, Kanauga, Patriot, Kerr and<br \/>\nNorthup.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes does Gallia County use?<\/strong><br \/>\n45631 for Gallipolis, 45674 for Rio Grande, 45623 for Crown City, 45614 for Bidwell, 45620 for<br \/>\nCheshire, 45686 for Vinton, 45658 for Patriot and 45643 for Kerr.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Gallia County known for?<\/strong><br \/>\nBeing the birthplace of Bob Evans Restaurants at the Bob Evans Farm in Rio Grande, and the 1967<br \/>\nSilver Bridge collapse at Gallipolis, one of the deadliest bridge failures in US history.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/ohio\/\">Towns and<br \/>\nvillages in Ohio<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gallia County is a county in Ohio, United States, on the Ohio River across from West Virginia, roughly 44 miles northwest of Charleston. It had a population of 29,220 at the 2020 census, an estimated 29,072 by 2025, and covers 471 square miles (1,220 km2) centred near 38\u00b050\u2032N 82\u00b019\u2032W. Gallipolis is the county seat and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Gallia County, Ohio","_seopress_titles_desc":"All 11 towns and communities in Gallia County, Ohio - type, township, population and ZIP for each, plus Bob Evans and Silver Bridge history.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-6845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-ohio","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6845"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9527,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6845\/revisions\/9527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}