Wheeling Township, Belmont County, Ohio

Township in Ohio, United States

40°7′22″N 80°56′43″W / 40.12278°N 80.94528°W / 40.12278; -80.94528CountryUnited StatesStateOhioCountyBelmontArea

• Total27.5 sq mi (71.2 km²) • Land26.9 sq mi (69.7 km²) • Water0.6 sq mi (1.5 km²)Elevation

^[1]

1,217 ft (371 m)Population

(2020)

• Total1,604 • Density58/sq mi (23/km²)Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)FIPS code39-84602^[2]GNIS feature ID1085790^[1]

Wheeling Township is one of the sixteen townships of Belmont County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census recorded 1,604 people in the township.^[3]

Geography

Located in the northern part of the county, it borders the following townships:

Short Creek Township, Harrison County - north
Mount Pleasant Township, Jefferson County - northeast corner
Colerain Township - east
Richland Township - southeast
Union Township - southwest
Flushing Township - west
Athens Township, Harrison County - northwest

No municipalities are located in Wheeling Township, although the unincorporated community of Fairpoint lies in the township's east.

Name and history

Wheeling Township was organised in 1808.^[4] Wheeling Township took its name from its largest waterway, Wheeling Creek. From its source west of Lafferty and south of Flushing, Wheeling Creek winds along the southern regions of Wheeling Township, through and near communities such as Oco, Bannock, Crabapple, Flushing and Blainesville. Wheeling Creek has several tributary creeks that flow through the township, including Crabapple Creek, which begins just west of the township's boundary, Campbell Run, a tributary of Crabapple Creek, McCracken Run, meeting Wheeling Creek in Fairpoint, Love's Run, whose confluence is just east of Fairpoint and Cox Run, which flows into the creek in Blainesville.

Wheeling Township was known for its large production of wheat, which was processed by one of the many gristmills^[5] that once existed, and shipped to New Orleans.

Statewide, the only other Wheeling Township is located in Guernsey County.

Government

The township is governed by a three-member board of trustees, who are elected in November of odd-numbered years to a four-year term beginning on the following 1 January. Two are elected in the year after the presidential election and one is elected in the year before it. There is also an elected township fiscal officer,^[6] who serves a four-year term beginning on 1 April of the year after the election, which is held in November of the year before the presidential election. Vacancies in the fiscal officership or on the board of trustees are filled by the remaining trustees.

References

^ ^a ^b "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 25 October 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
^ "Wheeling township, Belmont County, Ohio - Census Bureau Profile". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
^ McKelvey, A. T. (1903). Centennial History of Belmont County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens. Biographical Publishing Company. pp. 279.
^ Kilbourn, John (1833). The Ohio Gazetteer, or, a Topographical Dictionary. Scott and Wright. pp. 491. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
^ §503.24, §505.01 and §507.01 of the Ohio Revised Code. Accessed 30 April 2009.