Virginia Township, Coshocton County

How Virginia Township, Coshocton County began

Virginia Township, in the southern part of Coshocton County along the Muskingum River, was organized in 1828 and named for Virginia, the home state of most of its early settlers -- it is the only Virginia Township in Ohio. Richard Tilton, from Redstone Old Fort, Pennsylvania, was its first permanent settler, arriving in late 1805. The township's history is bound up with the Shawnee village of Wakatomika and the town of Dresden that grew near its site on the opposite bank of the Muskingum, in what is now Muskingum County.

Settled 1805, incorporated 1828, by settlers from Virginia; first permanent settler Richard Tilton.

Where the name comes from

Named for the state of Virginia, the former home of most of the township's early settlers; it is the only township of this name in Ohio.

Before the town

The Shawnee village of Wakatomika stood on the Muskingum River near the site of present-day Dresden, just across the river from Virginia Township, from about 1756; it was one of five Shawnee towns on the Muskingum destroyed in August 1774 during Dunmore's War by a Virginia colonial militia expedition under Angus McDonald. First settlement of the Coshocton County side of the river followed a generation later, in 1805. No mound, trail, or Native village has been documented on the Coshocton County (west) bank of the river in Virginia Township itself in the sources checked. The Muskingum forks a few miles upstream have a wider Delaware (Lenape) history.

Nations recorded here: Shawnee.

• Wakatomika (village) — Muskingum River near present-day Dresden, Muskingum County (opposite Virginia Township, Coshocton County), c. 1756-1774 (en.wikipedia.org)

Timeline

1. 1756 — Shawnees from Upper Shawneetown establish the village of Wakatomika on the Muskingum River near the future site of Dresden.
2. 1774 — Wakatomika and four other Shawnee towns on the Muskingum are burned in August during a Virginia militia expedition under Angus McDonald in Dunmore's War.
3. 1805 — Richard Tilton, from Redstone Old Fort, Pennsylvania, becomes the first permanent settler in what becomes Virginia Township, arriving late in the year.
4. 1818 — A Baptist congregation organizes on Section 16, the township's first church (some sources give 1816); the township's first school also forms this year.
5. 1828 — Virginia Township is formally organized and named for Virginia.
6. 1799 — Jonathan Cass and Seth Adams claim land on the Muskingum River across from Virginia Township, on or near the former Shawnee town of Wakatomika, in the area that becomes Dresden.
7. 1835 — The village of Dresden, across the river from Virginia Township, is incorporated (March 9).
8. 1914 — The Dresden Suspension Bridge, an eyebar suspension bridge across the Muskingum at Dresden, is built by the Bellefontaine Bridge & Steel Company after a 1913 flood destroyed the 1853 wire-cable bridge on the same site.

Stories

A Shawnee town, a militia raid, and the naming of Wakatomika Creek

Around 1756, Shawnees moving from Upper Shawneetown on the Ohio River built a village called Wakatomika on the Muskingum River, near where Dresden stands today, directly across the water from what became Virginia Township. It was one of several Shawnee towns strung along the river. In August 1774, during the frontier war remembered as Dunmore's War, a Virginia colonial militia force under Angus McDonald marched up from the Ohio and burned Wakatomika along with four neighboring Shawnee towns. The name survived the destruction and now marks Wakatomika Creek, which still empties into the Muskingum nearby.

The Dresden Suspension Bridge, rebuilt after a flood

The first fixed river crossing at Dresden, opposite Virginia Township, was a wire-cable suspension bridge with four stone towers, built in 1853 by a stock company of local investors led by George W. Cass to a design by George Copeland, at a cost of $28,000. A major flood in 1913 washed it away. It was replaced in 1914 by a rare eyebar-suspension design built by the Bellefontaine Bridge & Steel Company under engineer Clyde T. Morris -- possibly the oldest true eyebar suspension bridge still functioning as one anywhere in the country. It was bypassed for vehicle traffic in 1988 and kept as a pedestrian crossing. The bridge itself stands on the Muskingum County side of the river, not within Virginia Township, though it served as the river crossing for the township's own residents for most of the twentieth century.

Photographs

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org

Mostly private wells The water here

• Coshocton83% of residentsSand & gravel aquifer near Walhonding River/Mill Creek valley (wells)
• Dresden16% of residentsGroundwater wells (3 wells)
• Bomac Mobile Home Park1% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)

Spills reported since 2021 (1)

Money issues on the ballot since 2019: 1 of 1 passed.

Ballot issues

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked. The county's results on file run through 2022-05-03; later elections are not loaded yet.

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Financial Audit, 2023 to 2024, released 2025-07-29

Statewide question: State Issue 3: Voter ID

Local questions for Virginia Township, Coshocton County, Coshocton County and its school district:

• Coshocton County: Renews a 3-mill property tax levy for the EMS of Coshocton County for 5 years, beginning in 2027.

Races, candidates and every question for an address: your ballot. County offices and judges are on your county board's sample ballot.

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