The state legislature formed Monroe County on January 29, 1813, from parts of Washington, Guernsey, and Belmont counties. Settlers had established the county’s first permanent community in 1791 and in 1804, a ferry had begun crossing the Ohio River from that settlement to Sistersville, Virginia (now West Virginia).
Monroe County has been called “The Switzerland of Ohio” because of its rugged terrain and the cultural influences of its early Swiss immigrants. Monroe County’s oil boom holds an important place in its history and economic development. Entrepreneurs dug a well in 1891 that opened one of the largest pools in the nation. Today, Monroe County continues to be one of the top oil- and gas-producing counties in Ohio.
