Ohio County

Ohio County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2010 census, the population was 23,842. Its county seat is Hartford. The county is named after the Ohio River, which originally formed its northern boundary. It is a dry county, which means that the sale of alcohol is restricted or prohibited.HistoryOhio County was formed in 1798 from land taken from Hardin County. Ohio was the 35th Kentucky county in order of formation. It was named for the Ohio River, which originally formed its northern boundary, but it lost its northern portions in 1829, when Daviess County and Hancock County were formed. The first settlements in Ohio County were Barnetts Station and Hartford. In January 1865, during the American Civil War, the courthouse in Hartford was burned by Kentucky Confederate cavalry because it was being used to house soldiers of the occupying Union Army. However, the county records were removed first and preserved. Ohio County is famous for its coal mines, which in the 1970s produced much of the nation's coal.