Warren County Genealogical Society

In 1800 all of Ohio was part of the Northwest Territory.  Warren County is located in the southwest portion of the state.  The neighboring counties are Montgomery, Greene, Clinton, Clermont, Hamilton and Butler.  If you are looking for records of Warren County prior to May 1803, you may need to search in Hamilton County, Ohio.

 

Warren County was formed in 1803 from Hamilton County, one of the first twelve counties formed in the new State of Ohio.  On March 24, 1803, by an Act of the Ohio Legislation, Hamilton County was divided into several counties, including Hamilton, Clermont, Butler, and Warren.  Although Warren County was part of the division at this time, the official birthday of Warren County is celebrated on May 1 of each year.

 

Warren County was named in honor of Major General Dr. Joseph Warren, a patriot, who died at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolution.  There is a statue of him installed in a lodge adjacent to the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown, Boston, in the state of Massachusetts.  On June 17, 2025, the 250th Anniversary of Dr. Warren’s death, a full-body, full-size bronze statue commemorating him was erected in the Harmon Museum lawn, adjacent to the sidewalk on South Broadway Street in Lebanon, Ohio.

https://www.wchsmuseum.org/josephwarrenstatue.html

 

Warren County was originally formed from three tracts of land:

(1)        Virginia’s Military Land east of the Little Miami River;

(2)        the Symmes’ Purchase, which included all land north of the Ohio River between the Big and Little Miami Rivers and north to a line about a mile north of Lebanon; and

(3)        the remainder in the north central section of the County was governmental land which was transferred directly from the government to the purchaser of land grants.

 

Warren County’s boundary lines were drawn almost the same as today, with the exception of the northwestern corner, where a small portion west of the Great Miami River, which was in Butler County, became a part of Warren County in 1815.  At that time, Eaton Township, in the Northeast, was shifted to Clinton County.

 

Lebanon is the county seat.  The Golden Lamb, a hotel and restaurant, has been operating since 1803, although the present building dates from 1815.  Charles Dickens stayed here in 1842.  The Western Star, one of the state's oldest weekly newspapers has been printed in Lebanon since 1807.

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For more information about the History of Warren County, including Creation Dates, a Formation of Townships in Warren County map, Dates Villages Platted, Villages Not Platted, Ghost Towns, and Places with Name Changes, please use the links to the PDFs below.

History of Warren County, Ohio (PDF)

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Warren County, Ohio, Place Names (PDF)

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Warren County, Ohio, Road Name Changes (PDF)

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Resources

Interactive Map of Ohio County Formation History (1790-1888) – animated maps illustrating Ohio county boundary changes provided by Maps of US

https://www.mapofus.org/ohio/

 

Ohio Historical Boundary Changes – list of all boundary changes by county provided by Newberry Library

https://publications.newberry.org/ahcb/documents/OH_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm#Individual_County_Chronologies

 

Ohio Consolidated Chronology of State and County Boundaries – chronological list of changes by year provided by Newberry Library

https://publications.newberry.org/ahcb/documents/OH_Consolidated_Chronology.htm

 

Ohio Commentary – further information about land in Ohio provided by Newberry Library

https://publications.newberry.org/ahcb/documents/OH_Commentary.htm

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