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MIDDLETOWN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
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Miami Valley Vignettes
by George C. Crout

Introduction

Of all the great waterways of Ohio, only the Miami Rivers were able to imprint their names on a large geographical section of the state. Other areas must be satisfied to be identified by mundane geographical terms. When people refer to Southwestern Ohio, however, they use the term - the Miami Valley. It is based upon the name of the two rivers in whose valleys the Miami Indians once lived. In the language of the Indians, the word Miami meant, "all-beavers-all-friends-men."

While river valleys often do not respect man-drawn political boundary lines, it is agreed by geographers that 14 counties in Southwestern Ohio are within the drainage basis of the two Miami Rivers. Of course, the tributaries of the Great Miami sneek across the Indiana state line, and drain some of the eastern section of that state, especially the Whitewater River, which empties into the Great Miami in southwestern Hamilton County, near the lowest point of elevation in Ohio (428 feet).

The two rivers are known as the Great Miami and the Little Miami. The Great Miami, true to its name, is the larger, draining about 4,000 square miles in Ohio, and another 1300 square miles in Indiana. The Little Miami, lying east of its big sister, has a drainage basin of about 2,000 square miles. Together the rivers' basins cover almost 6,000 square miles of Ohio's southwestern corner. This is about 15 per cent of the total land area of the state, yet 20 percent of the people of Ohio live in the Miami Valley.

The two valleys stretch northward from the Ohio River for about 100 miles, and average about 70 miles in width. In the northern section of the valley at Bellefontaine, the state reaches its highest elevation (1,548 feet). Being bound by the Ohio River on the south, which receives the waters from both Miami Rivers, the valley could be called the Land of the Three Rivers. But it isn't - it's just the Miami Valley.

County seat is an old term used to designate the center of governmental activities of a county. It may or may not be, the largest city in a county, but the site was originally picked due to its central location. While 13 of Miami Valley's county seats are centrally located, one is not. Since it was situated near Fort Washington for protection against the Indians, and along the major transportation route into the valley, Cincinnati was selected as the site of government for the Northwestern Territory. Later it remained as the seat of Hamilton County.

Around Fort Hamilton, named to honor Alexander Hamilton, first Secretary of the Treasury, a town developed which was chosen the county seat of Butler County. General Anthony Wayne erected Fort Green Ville, naming it to honor Gen. Nathaniel Greene, a comrade in arms. Around it developed Darke County, with the seat of government at Greenville.

Montgomery County's center of government is named in tribute to one of the city's founders, who was a Revolutionary War soldier and a signer of the U.S. Constitution, Colonel Jonathon Dayton. General William Eaton's name is written on a city in Preble County. Eaton, after serving in the American Revolution, fought in the war against the Tripoli pirates. Sir Philip Sidney was a member of Queen Elizabeth's Court, a soldier, poet and author who inspired the people of Shelby County to pick his name. Warren County's Lebanon is a reference to a Biblical city. Troy (Miami Co.) refers to the classical city of the ancient world. Batavia (Clermont Co.) honors a province in the Netherlands, and Wilmington (Clinton Co.) a city in the U.S.

Other county seats are simply words. Bellefontaine (Logan Co.) is French for "beautiful fountain." Urbana (Champaign Co.) is from the Latin word, urbs, which means city. Xenia (Greene Co.) is the Greek word for "hospitable." Springfield (Clark Co.) refers to the early springs in the area.