Washington Township

 

There is little information about Washington Township to be found, so this blog will be short. 

Isaac Prior is credited with being the first white settler in the area, arriving in 1799, and erecting the first log home. Surnames of some of the early settlers include Boggs, Hart, Slack, Lehue, Sturtz, and McConnell. It was Gen. Robert McConnell who eventually relocated south of Muskingum County and founded the town of McConnelsville, which would become the county seat of Morgan County.

Washington Township was created by the Muskingum County Commissioners on June 5, 1822 from land north of the Military Lands line that had been part of Zanesville "township." Although bounded the length of its west side by the Muskingum River (which  should have encouraged the growth of commerce and villages), Washington Township is devoid of any population center. Early on there was a hamlet named Jackson, located along present-day U.S. 40. It was platted in 1830 by Charles Roberts, and had a blacksmith's shop and a school, but no post office, tavern or other places of businesses. It was almost strictly residential, and an 1882 county history noted it was a good place to avoid "the bustle of life." The Ohio Ghost Town Exploration Co. (https://ohioghosttowns.org/muskingum-county/ ) lists the Jackson area as a ghost town, although there are no remnants left of the village.

Today there is an unincorporated "population center" in Washington Township called Pleasant Grove. It's notable only because it's the geographic center of Muskingum County.