Gallipolis Township, Gallia County

How Gallipolis Township, Gallia County began

Gallipolis Township is the small, 10.4-square-mile township in eastern Gallia County that surrounds and takes its name from the city of Gallipolis, the county seat. Its history begins in 1790 with the 'French 500': emigrants who bought Ohio land from the Scioto Company in Paris, found the deeds worthless, and were settled by agreement on the Ohio River at the site Major Burnham's party cleared on June 8, 1790. The township met for the first time on March 1, 1802, as part of Washington County, more than a year before Gallia County existed, and was organized under state government on May 10, 1803; the village was incorporated by the legislature on February 17, 1804. The unincorporated community of Kanauga lies in the township's northeast corner at the Ohio end of the Silver Bridge, whose collapse on December 15, 1967 killed 46 people. The township's 2020 population was 4,725, almost all within the city.

Settled 1790 (Major Burnham's party landed June 8; most of the French colonists arrived in the last week of October), incorporated township meeting March 1, 1802 (Washington County); organized under state government May 10, 1803; village incorporated Feb. 17, 1804; city of the second class Feb. 10, 1865, by Scioto Company (Paris) emigrants, the 'French 500'; Col. Robert Safford and James Burford were with the first party on the site.

Where the name comes from

Gallipolis, 'city of the French' (Latin Galli, the Gauls, plus Greek polis, city), was the name the settlers chose for their town at an early meeting after landing; the township takes its name from the town. The 1882 county history says the name was adopted at an early meeting of the settlers; it is the only Gallipolis Township in Ohio.

Before the town

The 1882 county history says the French colonists at Gallipolis lost cattle and had one settler killed and a man and a woman taken prisoner after straying from the town, and that the colony was 'nearly free' from the war's depredations, probably because the hostile nations thought the French allied with the French of Canada. After St. Clair's defeat in 1791 Col. Ebenezer Sproat of Marietta appointed four spies at Gallipolis, who were released after the 1795 Treaty of Greenville. The history does not name the nations involved and records no village, mound or trail in the township outside the city. Gallia County was Shawnee country before 1795.

Nations recorded here: Shawnee.

Timeline

1. 1790-02 — More than 600 emigrants, holding Scioto Company deeds sold in Paris, sail from Le Havre in five chartered ships; they learn on landing in Virginia that the company has no title to the land.
2. 1790-06-08 — Major Burnham and about forty men land at the site of Gallipolis and begin clearing; Col. Robert Safford fells the first tree.
3. 1790-10 — Most of the French colonists arrive in the last week of October and take possession of eighty log cabins and blockhouses around what is now the Public Square; they name their town Gallipolis.
4. 1791 — After St. Clair's defeat, Col. Ebenezer Sproat of Marietta appoints four spies for Gallipolis, who watch for Native war parties until the Treaty of Greenville in 1795.
5. 1802-03-01 — The township of Gallipolis, in Washington County, holds its first meeting at John Bing's house, the old Baxter House on Front Street, and elects Robert Stafford chairman and John Robinson clerk, a year before Gallia County is formed.
6. 1803-05-10 — The township is formally organized under the State of Ohio.
7. 1804-02-17 — The legislature incorporates the village of Gallipolis, vesting power in five trustees, a president and a recorder; the president becomes a mayor in 1838.
8. 1823-04-19 — The township trustees resolve that after May 1 no Black or mulatto person may settle in the township unless he or she has complied with the state's 1804 'Black law.'
9. 1824 — General Lafayette visits Gallipolis, met at the landing by Nicholas Thevenin, whom he had known in France, and lodges at the Our House tavern on Front Street.
10. 1843 — The first fire company, the Ceres Fire Company, is organized; it holds its last meeting in 1845.
11. 1865-02-10 — With more than 5,000 inhabitants Gallipolis becomes a city of the second class and elects a mayor and council.
12. 1878 — Yellow fever, brought by the tow-boat John Porter from New Orleans (it reached Gallipolis August 17), kills 35 people in the city.
13. 1896 — A post office called Kanauga is established at Kanauga, in the township's northeast corner; the community extends north into Addison Township.
14. 1928-05-30 — The Silver Bridge opens between Point Pleasant, West Virginia and Gallia County, Ohio, with its Ohio end at Kanauga.
15. 1967-12-15 — The Silver Bridge collapses in rush-hour traffic at about 5 p.m.; 31 of the 37 vehicles on it fall into the Ohio River or onto the Ohio shore and 46 people die; the disaster leads to the National Bridge Inspection Standards under the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968.
16. 1969-12-15 — The Silver Memorial Bridge, the replacement, opens two years to the day after the collapse.
17. 2020 — Gallipolis Township records a census population of 4,725, almost all of it within the city of Gallipolis at its core.

Stories

Learning to fell trees

The French who reached Gallipolis in October 1790 were, in the county historian's words, 'physicians, lawyers, jewelers, and other artisans, a few mechanics, servants to the exiled nobility, and many with no trade or profession,' set down in a forest 'infested by ferocious wild beasts, and still more murderous bands of lawless Indians.' They had been told in Paris that their land was a paradise. Few knew how to use an ax. 'A number were seriously wounded and some lost their lives in learning to fell trees': two or three men would attack a giant from different sides, girdle it and strike its heart, and the tree would slip from the stump onto the workmen or onto the admiring crowd, which could not tell which way it would fall. A short experience of this sort 'sharpened their wits,' and they learned to guide trees with ropes held by strong men. Meanwhile there were eighty log cabins on what is now the Public Square, a council chamber that doubled as a ball-room where the 'etiquette of St. Cloud was observed,' and a Sunday routine of military drill followed by mass and an afternoon of recreation.

A township a year older than its county

The first record book of Gallipolis Township opens on the first Monday in March 1802, 'Territory of the United States, Northwest of the river Ohio, Washington county,' with a meeting at the house of John Bing, the old Baxter House on Front Street, the first frame building in the town. The voters elected Robert Stafford chairman and John Robinson clerk, with John P. R. Bureau, Hamilton Kerr and Robert Safford as trustees, two overseers of the poor, three fence viewers and five road supervisors. Most of the next pages are cattle ear-marks: Nicholas Thevenin's, for example, was 'two swallow forks and his brand N. T.' James Burford, whom the 1882 historian called a story-teller of national reputation, was chairman of the fence viewers in 1803, 'the one best adapted' to the rail-fence department. The book runs to May 28, 1839, and shows a township that was organized and electing officers over a year before Gallia County was formed.

The bridge that fell at Kanauga

At about 5 p.m. on December 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge, which carried U.S. 35 across the Ohio River between Point Pleasant, West Virginia and Kanauga, Gallia County, fell into the river in heavy rush-hour traffic. Thirty-one of the 37 vehicles on it dropped into the water or onto the Ohio shore; 46 people died and two bodies were never found. Investigators traced the collapse to a defect in a single link, eyebar 330, in one suspension chain, where a crack about a tenth of an inch deep had formed through fretting wear and stress corrosion. The replacement Silver Memorial Bridge opened exactly two years later, and the disaster led to the National Bridge Inspection Standards written under the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968. John Keel's 1975 book The Mothman Prophecies later tied the collapse to reported sightings near Point Pleasant.

Photographs

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · ohiogenealogyexpress.com · ohiogenealogyexpress.com · ohiogenealogyexpress.com · ohiogenealogyexpress.com · ohiogenealogyexpress.com · en.wikipedia.org · fhwa.dot.gov · en.wikipedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org

Groundwater wells (6 wells) The water here

• Gallipolis99% of residentsGroundwater wells (6 wells)
• Gallia Co. Rural Water Association1% of residentsOhio River Valley Aquifer (10 wells, Gallipolis/Addison Twp.)

Community health centers (1)

Facilities reporting toxic releases (1)

Spills reported since 2021 (4)

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked.

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Basic Audit, 2023 to 2024, released 2025-04-22

Cite this page