“1828 was noted for the invasion of sqirrels traveling east. Black and gray, about equally divided, they came in countless numbers. They crossed the river and immediately attacked the fields of corn wherever found.”
Early Events - History of Morgan County, Ohio, with Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men (1886). Machine-read text.
6 National Register listings published here · 11 businesses named in the fire insurance atlases from 1896 to 1917 · the county-history sources tell 4 stories and name 32 people · people the book names include Morris K. Atkinson (Homer Township, 1886) · John Buck (Windsor Township, 1886) (machine-read).
Ohio within the United StatesMorgan County within Ohio
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What the record shows
1 place in this county was surveyed for fire insurance: Mcconnelsville, between 1896 and 1940.
6 fire insurance atlases survive for the county. Topographic coverage is national; fire insurance survey reached only incorporated places with something worth insuring.
693 topographic sheet readings cover the county's settlements.
6 properties here are on the National Register of Historic Places: 3 structures, 1 site, 1 district and 1 building.
3 of them are covered bridges.
2 of the 6 listings were added during the 1970s.
The Geographic Names Information System records 51 populated places in this county; 51 are covered by at least one topographic sheet.
2 public-domain county histories, 1886, supply 176,586 words of narrative reproduced here.
What happened here
4 accounts
Among them: York; Early Events. These passages come from the
identified county-history source books. Each inset names its own source
and opens the exact section it comes from.
Catherine Fletcher. Henry W. mar- j ried Anna Longstreth. and reared three children, only one of whom, Joseph A., is now living. He is president of the Western College at Toledo, Iowa. John W. was killed in the charge on Ft. Wagner. Mr. Weller is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. In ante-bellum days his house was a prominent station on the U.
1823 was noted for the invasion of sqirrels traveling east. Black and gray, about equally divided, they came in countless numbers. They crossed the river and immediately attacked the fields of corn wherever found. Many farmers who were not able to watch their corn crop lost all their crop; and others with all the attention they could give saved only a small part of it.
Catherine Pletcher. Henry W. married Anna Longstreth and reared three children, only one of whom, Joseph A., is now living. He is president of the Western College at Toledo, Iowa. John W. was killed in the charge on Ft. Wagner. Mr. Weller is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. In ante-bellum days his house was a prominent station on the U.
1828 was noted for the invasion of sqirrels traveling east. Black and gray, about equally divided, they came in countless numbers. They crossed the river and immediately attacked the fields of corn wherever found. Many farmers who were not able to watch their corn crop lost all their crop; and others with all the attention they could give saved only a small part of it.
Taken for the Office of War Information and
the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between
1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no
known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.
McKibben's Grocery, Second Street & SR 266, Stockport Historic District, Stockport, Morgan County, OH Photographer not recorded. Library of CongressMorgan County Home for the Insane, State Route 376, McConnelsville, Morgan County, OH Photographer not recorded. Library of CongressEast view - public square, McConnelsville, Ohio Stanbery, C. L., photographer, 1909. Library of CongressMorgan County Home, State Route 376, McConnelsville, Morgan County, OH Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Places on the National Register
6
Every property in this county listed on the
National Register of Historic Places, with the year it was listed and the
federal nomination document.
Drawn when these were printed as
single large sheets: the town seen from the air, and the county
divided into its farms with every owner named. Each opens the
original at the Library of Congress.
Land ownership map (1854) - Map of Morgan County, Ohio. Library of Congress.
The county from the air
16 shown
Flown by the U.S. Geological Survey
between 1937 and 1989, the Aerial Photo Single Frames collection is
the definitive mid-century view of the land: fields, roads and rivers
as the camera saw them. The Survey holds 318 frames inside the
rectangle that bounds this county; the 16 frames below were taken over
the county itself, chosen across the decades of flights (at most four
a year from that rectangle), so one flight cannot crowd out the rest.
The full set is free to browse and download at
EarthExplorer under the dataset Aerial Photo Single
Frames.
1975-04-07, scale 1:78000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.1975-04-07, scale 1:78000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.1975-04-07, scale 1:78000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.1976-03-22, scale 1:78000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.1958-04-08, scale 1:27000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.1958-04-08, scale 1:27000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.1958-04-08, scale 1:27000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.1960-04-23, scale 1:29000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.1960-04-23, scale 1:29000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.1960-04-23, scale 1:29000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.1960-04-23, scale 1:29000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.1972-05-10, scale 1:24000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.1972-05-10, scale 1:24000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.1972-05-10, scale 1:24000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.1972-05-10, scale 1:24000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.1975-04-07, scale 1:78000. U.S. Geological Survey aerial photograph.
Weather records
4 stations, 2 gages
The thermometers that kept this county's weather, and the gages that measured the flow of its streams, as the federal records hold them. The extremes below are measured values from those records, not estimates.
Who lived here in 1950, one enumeration
district at a time, as the Census Bureau described each district.
Each row opens its official National Archives result, with Population
Schedules and ED Maps available there.
58-15Morgan township: McConnelsville village: McConnelsville village - That part Bounded by Village limits; Village limits; Village limits; 9th, Liberty, 8th
58-16McConnelsville village - That part Bounded by Village limits; Village limits, 8th, Liberty, 9th; Village limits; Kennebec Ave.
58-17McConnelsville village - That part Bounded by Village limits; Kennebec Ave.; Liberty, 3rd, 3rd extended (bridge); Village limits
58-18McConnelsville village - That part Bounded by 3rd extended (bridge), 3rd, Liberty; Kennebec Ave.; Village limits
58-19Morgan township - That part outside McConnelsville village
58-20Penn township: Penn township - That part east of State Hwy. 377
58-21Penn township - That part west of State Hwy. 377
58-24Windsor township - That part east and north of Muskingum River
58-25Windsor township - That part west and south of Muskingum River outside Stockport village
58-26York township: York township - That part north of State Hwy. 669
58-27York township - That part south of State Hwy. 669
Businesses named in the atlases
11 businesses
Every Sanborn volume opens with a printed index
naming the town's mills, tanneries, hotels and works by proprietor. Those
indexes were read off the scanned sheets by machine and then matched to each
other, so a business surveyed four times appears here once, with the years it
survived. None of these 11 was named in more than one atlas. Each carries a
crop of the line it was read from: the spelling is the recogniser's and the
1880s lithographer's, and the scan behind it is the proof.
Every wildfire the federal occurrence
database records inside this county: 57 of them, burning
about 125 acres. 1 started naturally and none was recorded as arson. Each settlement page carries the fires within
five miles of it.
Reported cause
Fires
Debris and open burning
28
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
14
Equipment and vehicle use
6
Recreation and ceremony
4
Power generation/transmission/distribution
3
Natural
1
Smoking
1
The five largest, by the area the report
gives. None of them was recorded as arson.
Date
Cause
Size
Reported by
Name on the report
18 April 2016
Recreation and ceremony
25 acres
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
4728
22 March 2015
Equipment and vehicle use
20 acres
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
702
30 October 2016
Debris and open burning
6.0 acres
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
5929
25 October 2012
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
6.0 acres
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
not named
6 April 2013
Debris and open burning
6.0 acres
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
not named
15 March 2018
Debris and open burning
6.0 acres
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
10589
15 March 2018
Debris and open burning
6.0 acres
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
10587
1 April 2014
Debris and open burning
5.5 acres
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
not named
Every settlement page carries the fires within five
miles of it - see the settlement index below.
Storms,
1961 to 2026
60 of 201 shown
The
NOAA Storm Events Database holds
201 reports for this county, causing 2 deaths, no injuries and about $2,053,250 in recorded property damage.
Each settlement page carries the reports that name it.
Kind of event
Reports
Thunderstorm Wind
125
Hail
35
Flood
22
Flash Flood
16
Heavy Rain
2
Tornado
1
The most serious of them, by death, then
injury, then recorded damage. The accounts are quoted exactly as the
forecast office filed them.
Roads were flooded, but damage to dwellings was minimal. Two brothers from Athens County died while on a fishing trip. Their flooded vehicle was found along the East Branch of Sunday Creek above Burr Oak Reservoir. Apparently, they drove into the high water at night, during the early morning hours on the 3rd. One body was found inside the vehicle. The second body was not found until the next morning, about a mile downstream.
Several trees and large branches down in scattered locations about the county. Nearly 6,000 customers lost electricity. The public infrastructure damage assessment was around $58,000.
The tornado that touch downed in eastern Perry County continued into western Morgan County, before dissipating. There were several downed trees and large branches along McKinley Street. Three houses had minor damage and one vehicle was destroyed. Electricity was out for over 24 hours.||Since 1950, this is the first confirmed tornado in Morgan County. However, prior to 1950, one tornado was reported in Morgan County back in June of 1928.
Rains of 2 to 5 inches fell in less than 5 hours. The cooperative observer at McConnelsville had a 24 hour total of 5 inches. About 4.5 inches of the total fell in just over 2 hours, with the 5 inch total occurring in a 4 to 5 hour period. This produced flooding on many county roads and State Route 60. Water was 4 to 5 feet over some of the roads. Three homes were threatened by rising water, but no evacuations were required. The county emergency manager director reported only minor damage from this downpour. A few basements were flooded. Some county and township roads received minor damage.
A barn and several other out-buildings were damaged. A number of trees were downed. A downburst is believed to have occurred with winds to 70 MPH (61 kts).
On the afternoon of the 20th, the Muskingum River at McConnelsville rose above its 11 foot flood stage. The river crested just below 12 feet early on the morning of the 21st, but did not return below flood stage until the morning of the 22nd. Most of the primary roads were flooded in between McConnelsville and Zanesville while the river was above flood stage, as well as a few homes that reside near the river.
The Muskingum River gauge at McConnelsville rose above its flood stage on the afternoon of April 2nd. The river eventually crested to around 13 feet the next morning, and then returned below flood stage the morning of the 4th. Several homes and businesses in the McConnelsville observed minor flooding during this time, in addition to high water issues that arose on State Route 376 and Route 669.
During the early morning hours of February 18th, the Muskingum River in McConnelsville rose out of its 11 foot flood stage. The river crested at 12.66 feet late that morning and did not return to its banks until the afternoon of February 19th. While out of its banks, much of the town of McConnelsville was flooded as well as State Route 376 and State Route 669. Many homes in the town observed flooding in their yards.
The Muskingum River flooded near McConnelsville, causing high water along Routes 60 and 669. The neighborhood along Cottonwood Drive also experienced some minor flooding.||The river gage on the Muskingum at McConnelsville showed the river rose above its 11 foot flood stage late on the 7th. It crested at 11.5 feet just after midnight on the 8th, and returned to its banks mid morning.
An automatic gauge near McConnelsville reported 2.2 inches of rain in 2 to 3 hours between 1800 and 2100E. Another .5 inches of rain fell between 2200E and 2300E. Rain estimates of over 3 inches fell around Joetown. ||Small streams flooded roads. One example was in the Millers Run basin, where County Route 56 was flooded.
Over wet terrain, rains estimated at 2 to 3 inches fell in a few separate rounds of convection from the McConnelsville vicinity on north and east in Morgan County. Small streams flooded roads. For example, Four Mile Run flooded in Meigsville Township. In Bristol Township, County Route 62 called Mummey Road was flooded. In the Meigs Creek basin, portions of County Route 11 were flooded. Bell Creek flooded yards around McConnelsville.
The Muskingum River in McConnelsville rose out of its 11 foot flood stage on the evening of February 22nd. Just after midnight on the 23rd, the river crested at 11.59 feet and returned to its banks just before noon that morning. Several roads observed high water spilling from the river, including Route 669 near Malta and down into McConnelsville. Several homes near the river also observed minor flooding.
Route 60 flooded near McConnelsville as the Muskingum River rose out of its banks. Also impacted were Route 669 near Malta and the cemetary on the southwest side of McConnelsville.||The river gage on at McConnelsville showed the river rose above its 11 foot flood stage during the afternoon of the 12th. It crested just above 12 feet late that night before returning to its banks the evening of the 13th.
State Road 377 near the town of Plantsville was closed in both directions due to flooding. Other county roads that were temporarily closed due to flooding included County Road 56 near Malta and County Road 39 in Westland.
Trees and power lines were downed along Van Fossen Lane.
Mines and
quarries
8 recorded
The Survey's mineral resources record
lists 8 workings inside this county. 4 still produce and 4 are closed or unrecorded. Each
settlement page carries the workings within five miles of it.
Commodity
Workings
Stone, Crushed/Broken
3
Limestone, General
2
Sand and Gravel, Construction
2
Stone
1
The least common of them first, because a
county's hundredth gravel pit says nothing its first ten did not.
Museum specimens collected in and around
this county - inside the rectangle that bounds it - and catalogued with
a date and a place: 703 of them, by kingdom 575 animalia, 117 plantae, 10 fungi, 1 unrecorded. Each is a physical object in a named collection, not a
sighting. Held by Ohio State University - Fish Division, Columbus, OH (OSUM), CM, Ohio State University - Amphibian Division, Columbus, OH (OSUM), YPM, KU, Ohio State University - Bird Division, Columbus, OH (OSUM) among others, and each settlement page carries
the specimens collected near it.
The oldest of them. A specimen proves
something was collected on that day; its absence proves nothing.
History of Morgan County, Ohio, with Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men devotes a chapter to each township:
its boundaries and streams, who settled it and when, the mills, the
schools and the churches. All 14 are reproduced here in full. Each row
shows the township's own shape and where it lies in the county, drawn from
the Census Bureau's boundary. Which settlements belong to which township
is computed from that same boundary, not taken from the book.
One book written about this county, cut here
where the book itself is cut, at its printed chapters: 18 chapters in all.
Every chapter is public domain, machine-read from the scan and
reproduced complete. A chapter already given under one of the county's
towns is not repeated in this list.
History of Morgan County, Ohio, with Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men (1886)
Everyone History of Morgan County, Ohio, with Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men stops to write about, with
the section that describes them. Among them are the men who founded the
place and governed the Territory. Each name opens the passage itself, in
the words of 1886.
Named settlements recorded in the Geographic Names
Information System, each with the topographic sheets covering it. Villages,
hamlets and abandoned places alike. Each is shown with the nearest named
watercourse or landform and the survey quadrangle it falls on. The 1 place that was also surveyed for fire insurance comes first, with the number of atlases and photographs held for them.
The complete index, with nothing left out.
Each of these is a separate record with its own page: a federal survey
report, or the case file that argued a property on to the National
Register. Both are public domain and reproduced word for word.
Topographic sheets. USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, county index, measured from the bulk metadata.
Fire insurance maps. Library of Congress Sanborn collection, faceted to this county.
Photographs. Each place queried individually against the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs search.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.
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