Local events in Bethel
Nothing is posted for Bethel itself yet; here is what is on within 20 miles. All local events in Bethel
Know a calendar we should watch? Send the link
Checked October 20; the events page is refreshed daily.
Lakes near Bethel
The history under the water: the valley before, the dam, the stories. All Ohio lakes
History from Bethel
People and inventions tied to this place, each with its sources. All people · All inventions
How Bethel began
Bethel was founded by Obed Denham, a Virginia-born settler who bought 1,500 acres at the site in 1797 and moved there directly from Kentucky rather than raise his family under a slave economy; the settlement was informally known as Denham Town before Denham platted it formally in 1798 under the name Plainfield. It was replatted and renamed Bethel, a biblical name, in 1802. The village grew into the commercial center of Tate Township, the largest township in Clermont County, and later gave its name to three National Register-listed historic buildings scattered through the surrounding countryside: the Bethel Methodist Church near Bantam, the Salt House southwest of the village, and the William Winter Stone House near Mount Olive, all of which stand within Tate Township rather than inside Bethel's own corporate limits.
Settled 1797, platted 1798, by Obed Denham.
Where the name comes from
The settlement was informally called Denham Town, for founder Obed Denham, before he formally platted it in 1798 under the name Plainfield. It was replatted and renamed Bethel in 1802, taking the biblical name (a place mentioned repeatedly in the Hebrew Bible, associated with religious significance) rather than continuing with either earlier name.
Before the town
No mound, earthwork or documented historic-era Native village, encounter or battle specific to the village site of Bethel was found in the sources searched. Obed Denham settled and platted the town two years after the 1795 Treaty of Greenville cession opened the region to organized settlement; the 1880 county history's account of his arrival and the town's early growth records no Native presence or conflict at the site itself. The wider Native history of the surrounding area includes the 1792 Battle of Grassy Run well to the north, and the historic Shawnee, Miami and Wyandot nations held the region before 1795.
Nations recorded here: Shawnee.
Timeline
- — Obed Denham, a Virginia-born opponent of slavery who came directly from Kentucky, buys 1,500 acres and settles at the future site of Bethel.
- — Denham formally plats the town under the name Plainfield, having already been informally known as Denham Town.
- — Houton Clarke, an English-born former Kentucky resident, opens the first licensed tavern in the village.
- — The town is replatted and renamed Bethel.
- — The William Winter Stone House is built near Mount Olive, close to Bethel, for Mordecai Winters, a Revolutionary War veteran who had survived being scalped, and his son William Winter; it serves for decades after as a landmark, later housing the Mount Olive post office (1848-1880) and a general store.
- — Thomas Morris of Bethel, later a United States Senator and abolitionist Liberty Party vice-presidential nominee, moves to Tate Township and eventually settles near the village.
- — A post office begins operating in Bethel.
Stories
A survivor's stone house
Mordecai Winters, a Revolutionary War veteran from Virginia, brought his family to the Northwest Territory in the last years of the eighteenth century and had settled near Williamsburgh by 1800; at some point in his life he had survived being scalped, a fact the 1880 county history records without further detail on the circumstances. In 1803 his son William Winter built a two-story stone-and-brick house near Mount Olive, close to Bethel, where father and son lived together. The house long outlived its original residential purpose: from 1848 to 1880 its kitchen served as the Mount Olive post office, and a back addition built around 1850 housed a general store, making the Winter house a genuine community landmark for a remote corner of the county for the better part of a century. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 for both its Federal-style architecture and its place in local commercial history, the house still stands, its original black walnut interior woodworking largely intact.
Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · archive.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org
Water
Eleven vertical wells and one collector well in the Ohio River valley aquifer at Clermontville and Moscow The water here
- Tate-monroe Water Association62% of residentsOhio River valley aquifer (collector/vertical wells)
- Bethel Village36% of residentsOhio River valley aquifer (collector/vertical wells)
- Felicity Village2% of residentsGroundwater wells (3 wells)
- Mount Orab Village0% of residentsSterling Run (reservoirs)
Hospitals, fire stations and more
Inside Bethel's boundary: 1 nursing home, 1 fire or EMS station, 1 college, 4 public schools, 1 library, 1 police station and 2 spill cases. Press a pin or a name for its whole record and its source.
Nursing homes (1)
-
Morris Nursing Home3 of 5 stars · Bethel
- Address
- 322 South Charity Street, Bethel, OH 45106
- Certified beds
- 18
- Residents on an average day
- 16
- Medicare overall rating
- 3 of 5 stars
- Health inspections
- 3 of 5 stars
- Staffing
- 4 of 5 stars
- Quality measures
- 3 of 5 stars
- Penalties since 2023
- none
- Ownership
- For profit - Corporation
- Takes
- Medicare and Medicaid
- Phone
- (513) 734-7401
- Medicare ID
- 366233
Medicare Care Compare ↗ CMS nursing home data (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: CMS Care Compare nursing home provider and penalties files; Medicare star ratings run 1 to 5.
Fire and EMS stations (1)
-
Bethel - Tate Fire DepartmentBethel
- Address
- 149 North East Street, Bethel, OH 45106
- Coordinates
- 38.96472, -84.07723
USGS National Map structures (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: USGS National Map structures (most Ohio records last updated 2019 to 2022), checked against the Columbus and Cleveland station lists. The department that answers a call is set by jurisdiction and mutual aid, not by distance.
Colleges (1)
-
Brown & Clermont Adult Career CampusesPublic career school · Bethel
- What it is
- Public career school
- City
- Bethel
- Students, 2023-24 (12-month count)
- 156
- IPEDS unit ID
- 375568
College Navigator (NCES) ↗ IPEDS data (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: NCES IPEDS 2024 directory, 2023-24 enrollment and tuition, graduation rates for the 2017 (four-year) and 2020 (two-year) entering classes.
Public schools (4)
-
Bethel-Tate Middle School4.5 of 5 stars · Bethel
- Address
- 649 W Plane St, Bethel, OH 45106
- School district
- Bethel-Tate Local School District
- Kind (NCES)
- Regular School
- Students, 2023-24
- 296
- Teachers (full-time equivalent)
- 21
- Report card, 2025-26
- 4.5 of 5 stars
- Performance index
- 79.2%
- Ohio building IRN
- 002584
- NCES school ID
- 390463102507
NCES school record ↗ Ohio School Report Card ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
Bick Primary Elementary School3 of 5 stars · Bethel
- Address
- 101 Fossyl Dr, Bethel, OH 45106
- School district
- Bethel-Tate Local School District
- Kind (NCES)
- Regular School
- Students, 2023-24
- 374
- Teachers (full-time equivalent)
- 18.5
- Report card, 2025-26
- 3 of 5 stars
- Ohio building IRN
- 145300
- NCES school ID
- 390463104590
NCES school record ↗ Ohio School Report Card ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
Hill Intermediate Elementary School2.5 of 5 stars · Bethel
- Address
- 150 Fossyl Dr, Bethel, OH 45106
- School district
- Bethel-Tate Local School District
- Kind (NCES)
- Regular School
- Students, 2023-24
- 308
- Teachers (full-time equivalent)
- 15.5
- Report card, 2025-26
- 2.5 of 5 stars
- Performance index
- 73.1%
- Ohio building IRN
- 145292
- NCES school ID
- 390463104589
NCES school record ↗ Ohio School Report Card ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
U S GrantBethel
- Address
- 718 W Plane St, Bethel, OH 45106
- Kind (NCES)
- Career and Technical School
- Students, 2023-24
- 396
- Teachers (full-time equivalent)
- 1
- NCES school ID
- 390628004122
Source: NCES EDGE public school locations 2024-25 and Common Core of Data 2023-24 (type, students, teachers); Ohio School Report Cards 2025-26 (Department of Education and Workforce), matched by name within the district.
Public libraries (1)
-
Bethel Branch LibraryBranch · Bethel
- Address
- 611 West Plane St., Bethel, OH 45106
- What it is
- Branch
- Library system
- Clermont County Public Library
- Open
- 2,504 hours a year, 52 weeks
- Building
- 12,300 sq ft
- System's visits, FY2024
- 409,864
- System's loans, FY2024
- 1,792,026
- People the system serves
- 208,601
- Phone
- (513) 734-2619
IMLS Public Libraries Survey (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: IMLS Public Libraries Survey FY2024 (outlets and their systems). Any Ohio resident can get a free card at any Ohio public library.
Police stations (1)
-
Bethel Police DepartmentBethel
- Address
- 120 North Main Street, Bethel, OH 45106
- Coordinates
- 38.96438, -84.08063
USGS National Map structures (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: USGS National Map structures, police stations, corrected and completed by hand (September 2026). The department that answers a call is set by jurisdiction, not by distance.
Spills reported since 2021 (2)
-
Material Undetermined / Other2025-06-26 · Bethel
- Reported
- 2025-06-26
- What spilled
- Material Undetermined / Other
- Where
- Bethel, Clermont County
- Ohio EPA district office
- SWDO
- Ohio EPA case number
- 2506EPA0001065
Ohio EPA spill reports (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
-
Fuel Gasoline ( 25% Ethanol Not E85)2022-11-22 · Bethel
- Reported
- 2022-11-22
- What spilled
- Fuel Gasoline ( 25% Ethanol Not E85)
- Largest amount reported
- 10 gallons
- Where
- Bethel, Clermont County
- Ohio EPA district office
- SWDO
- Ohio EPA case number
- 2211EPA0001732
Ohio EPA spill reports (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: Ohio EPA emergency response spill reports, 2021 to September 2026, one point per case where Ohio EPA placed it. A report is what the caller or responder recorded; amounts are often blank or estimated.
Its ZIP codes
Each ZIP code that touches Bethel, with the share of its residents who live here and the same headline figures as the ZIP page.
| ZIP | Share | Water | Radon | Home value | Schools | Flood |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45106 Tate Township and Bethel | 22% | Eleven vertical wells and one collector well in the Ohio River valley aquifer at Clermontville and Moscow | 3.6 pCi/L average radon | Median year built 1975 | Bethel-Tate Local · 4 stars overall | 0.1% of residents in the 1% floodplain |
Local government
Who holds office in Bethel, how its elections and ballot issues came out, and the state auditor's record.
Money issues on the ballot since 2016: 1 of 1 passed.
Ballot issues
| Date | Issue | For | Against | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-11-08 | Issue: 3. Bethel Village - Repeal Income Tax | 624 | 386 | Passed (61.78% for) |
| 2016-11-08 | Issue: 14. Bethel-Tate LSD Tax Levy | 2,218 | 2,190 | Passed (50.32% for) |
Elections for office
| Date | Office | Candidates and votes |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-11-04 | Member of Council | Cindy R. Shepherd 165, 28.5%; Ron Dunn 160, 27.63%; Brenda Woodward 117, 20.21%; Write-In: Paulette Smith 83, 14.34%; Write-In: Jeff Thompson 54, 9.33% |
| 2023-11-07 | Member of Council | Joel Ausman 324, 50.94%; Dawn R. Thompson 312, 49.06% |
| 2023-11-07 | Mayor | Jay Noble 423, 100.0% |
| 2021-11-02 | Member of Council | Stephanie Ross 198, 24.09%; Ron Dunn 190, 23.11%; Brenda Woodward 170, 20.68%; Bryan Coogan 168, 20.44%; Write-In: Alan Ausman 96, 11.68% |
| 2019-11-05 | Member of Council | Lucy Shepherd 211, 52.62%; Dawn Hollifield 190, 47.38% |
| 2019-11-05 | Mayor | Jay Noble 237, 100.0% |
| 2015-11-03 | Member of Council | Dawn R. Hollifield 337, 32.72%; Lucy Shepherd 270, 26.21%; Jay Noble 258, 25.05%; Janessa Brown 165, 16.02% |
| 2015-11-03 | Mayor | Alan Ausman 333, 50.23%; Jennifer Noble 189, 28.51%; Rus Whitley 141, 21.27% |
Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked.
Auditor of State record
- Fiscal emergency: declared 2010-08-24, released 2013-10-17. source
- Financial Audit, 2021 to 2022, released 2025-03-04
The county
Clermont County: 16 ZIP codes, 26 cities, villages and townships, 218,581 people.
Nearby places
Rain and snow
How much has actually fallen on Bethel, day by day, from 1893 to now. Daily totals, not averages.
- rain, last 30 days
- 1.36 in
- 2026-09-30 to 2026-10-29
- rain so far in 2026
- 39.1 in
- about normal for the date
- snow so far in 2026
- 14.7 in
- a normal year brings 12.7 in
- a normal year
- 45.5 in
- average of 30 years, 1991-2020
| Month | Rain (in) | Snow (in) | Days counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2026 | 1.36 | — | 29 |
| September 2026 | 4.64 | — | 30 |
| August 2026 | 4.59 | — | 31 |
| July 2026 | 4.68 | — | 31 |
| June 2026 | 5.54 | — | 30 |
| May 2026 | 5.75 | — | 31 |
| April 2026 | 3.63 | — | 30 |
| March 2026 | 6.24 | 0.4 | 31 |
| February 2026 | 0.96 | 5.7 | 28 |
| January 2026 | 1.73 | 8.7 | 31 |
| December 2025 | 3.04 | 10.1 | 31 |
| November 2025 | 3.79 | 1.7 | 30 |
| Wettest year | 2011 — 63.2 in |
|---|---|
| Driest year | 1934 — 22.1 in |
| Snowiest year | 1910 — 36.8 in |
| Wettest day on record | 2 March 1997 — 4.79 in |
| Heaviest snowfall in a day | 15 January 1921 — 10.98 in |
| Deepest snow on the ground | 21 January 1978 — 16.81 in |
Estimated, not measured. No rain gauge has ever stood inside Bethel, so every figure here is worked out from the gauges around it - the nearest ones weighted most. Treat them as close estimates rather than readings.
47,415 days of records, 1893-01-01 to 2026-10-29. Source: NOAA NCEI GHCN-Daily, 3,240 gauges in and around Ohio. A day is "gauged" when a gauge standing inside the boundary reported it, and the value is the mean of those gauges. Otherwise it is interpolated by inverse distance from every gauge reporting within 50 miles. Nothing is carried forward, back-filled or smoothed. Against NOAA nClimDiv county monthly precipitation over 136,848 complete county-months (checked 2026-10-31): correlation 0.9515, median absolute difference 0.217 in a month. Built 2026-10-31 from the Cracked Buckeye precipitation archive. Snow is the softer number — snowfall is measured by hand with a ruler, no agency publishes a gridded county snowfall series, and blowing snow defeats every observer.
Environmental permits and filings
What Ohio EPA has on file for Bethel: permits, inspections, violations, cleanups and the state loans behind sewer and water work. Every line links to the agency's own document.
- facilities and sites on file
- 4
- those placed on the map inside Bethel
| Program | Facilities and sites |
|---|---|
| Hazardous waste | 2 |
| Public drinking water | 1 |
| Wastewater and stormwater discharge | 1 |
| Date | Facility or site | What |
|---|---|---|
| BETHEL VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water compliance letter | |
| BETHEL VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water report | |
| BETHEL VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water plan | |
| BETHEL VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water monitoring results | |
| BETHEL VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water inspection | |
| BETHEL VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water warning letter | |
| BETHEL VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water notice of violation | |
| CLE SR 125 1408 (PID 119700) | Wastewater and stormwater discharge permit | |
| BETHEL VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water inspection | |
| BETHEL VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water notice of violation | |
| BETHEL VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water compliance letter | |
| BETHEL VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water compliance letter | |
| BETHEL VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water report | |
| BETHEL VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water warning letter | |
| BETHEL VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water inspection | |
| BETHEL VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water compliance letter | |
| BETHEL VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water inspection | |
| BETHEL VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water compliance letter | |
| BETHEL VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water notice of violation | |
| BETHEL VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water compliance letter | |
| BETHEL VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water compliance letter | |
| BETHEL VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water compliance letter | |
| BETHEL VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water compliance letter | |
| BETHEL VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water compliance letter | |
| BETHEL VILLAGE PWS | Public drinking water report |
Source: Ohio EPA eDocument portal (edocpub.epa.ohio.gov), indexed 2026-10-14. Facilities are placed on the map from Ohio EPA's own map layers, EPA's Facility Registry, coordinates written in the filings, or a geocoded street address. A permit filed under a private person's name (most are household septic systems) is counted but never named, placed or linked; licenses for individual workers and open-burning notices are left out entirely.
Quick answers
What county is Bethel, Ohio in?
Bethel is a village in Clermont County, Ohio, with 2,620 residents.
When was Bethel, Ohio founded?
Bethel was settled 1797; laid out 1798. Founders on record: Obed Denham. Source
How did Bethel, Ohio get its name?
The settlement was informally called Denham Town, for founder Obed Denham, before he formally platted it in 1798 under the name Plainfield. Source
What ZIP code is Bethel, Ohio?
Most of Bethel is in ZIP code 45106.
Where does Bethel, Ohio get its water?
The main water source for Bethel (Tate-monroe Water Association): Eleven vertical wells and one collector well in the Ohio River valley aquifer at Clermontville and Moscow.
Cite this page
Cite this page as:
Cracked Buckeye, "Bethel, Clermont County", https://crackedbuckeye.com/place/bethel/, built 2026-10-31, accessed [date].
How to cite · Report a correction · Built 2026-10-31
