Buckeye Hills Regional Council serves Athens, Hocking, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Noble, Perry, and Washington counties in Southeast Ohio. These eight counties are home to 244,000 residents and encompass 3,697 square miles, 121 townships, 5 cities, 53 villages, and 22 Census-designated places.
The history and culture of our region is deeply rooted in the early exploration of Appalachia and the settlement of the Northwest Territory that began in 1787. Many of the region’s cities and villages were founded in the early to mid-1800s and are rooted in the transportation of natural resources and goods through the Ohio River valley. Many of these communities have historic downtowns that have served as the center of local commercial activities and community gathering for over a century.
The Buckeye Hills region is predominantly rural in nature, with large areas of the district covered by rolling hills and vegetation. The region is bordered by the Ohio River and steeped in U.S. and Appalachian history, as it is home to the first permanent settlement of the Northwest Territory (Marietta) and the first legislated public university as part of the Northwest Ordinance (Ohio University).
The rural nature of the region has lent itself to historically strong economic sectors of mining, natural resource extraction, and manufacturing. More recently, counties in the region have become fast-growing locations for oil and gas exploration and extraction from the Marcellus and Utica Shale formations that span the eastern counties of our district.
The sectors which employ the most workers in the Buckeye Hills region have been manufacturing, retail trade, health care, accommodation services, and local government.
Southeast Ohio has a wealth of educational resources, including 28 school districts and seven colleges. The Buckeye Hills region typically exceeds the state and federal rates of high school graduates and individuals with associate’s degrees.
Multiple modes of transportation contribute to the Buckeye Hills regional economy, including highway, rail, maritime, and public transportation. The district contains over 8,900 total miles of roads, 182 miles of rail, 147 miles of Ohio River frontage, and six transit agencies.
