Chillicothe, Ohio
Overview
Chillicothe is a city in and the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

 of Ross County
Ross County, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 73,345 people, 27,136 households, and 19,185 families residing in the county. The population density was 106 people per square mile . There were 29,461 housing units at an average density of 43 per square mile...

, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Chillicothe was the first and third capital of Ohio and is located in southern Ohio along the Scioto River
Scioto River
The Scioto River is a river in central and southern Ohio more than 231 miles in length. It rises in Auglaize County in west central Ohio, flows through Columbus, Ohio, where it collects its largest tributary, the Olentangy River, and meets the Ohio River at Portsmouth...

. The name comes from the Shawnee name Chalahgawtha
Chalahgawtha
Chalahgawtha was the name of one of the five divisions of the Shawnee, a Native American people, during the 18th century, as well as the name of the principal village of the division. The other four divisions were the Mekoche, Kispoko, Pekowi, and Hathawekela...

, meaning "principal town", as it was a major settlement of that people. They and their ancestors inhabited the territory for thousands of years prior to European contact. At the time of European-American settlement, the community was plotted by General Nathaniel Massie
Nathaniel Massie
Nathaniel Massie was a frontier surveyor in the Ohio Country who became a prominent land owner, politician, and soldier. He founded fifteen early towns in what became the State of Ohio, including its first capital, Chillicothe...

 on his land grant.

The population was 21,797 at the 2000 census.
 
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