Muskingum Township, Muskingum County, Ohio

Muskingum Township, Muskingum County, Ohio
Township
Church of the Nativity at Mattingly Settlement
Location of Muskingum Township in Muskingum County
Coordinates: 40°2′40″N 82°2′22″W
Country	United States
State	Ohio
County	Muskingum
Area
• Total	30.6 sq mi (79.4 km^2)
• Land	30.3 sq mi (78.4 km^2)
• Water	0.4 sq mi (0.9 km^2)
Elevation [1]	958 ft (292 m)
Population  (2020)[2]
• Total	4,861
• Density	160/sq mi (61/km^2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
FIPS code	39-53438[3]
GNIS feature ID	1086728[1]

Muskingum Township is one of the twenty-five townships of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 4,861 people in the township.

Geography

Located in the north central part of the county, it borders the following townships:

• Cass Township - north
• Madison Township - northeast
• Washington Township - southwest
• Falls Township - south
• Licking Township - west

No municipalities are located in Muskingum Township.

Name and history

The name Muskingum may come from the Shawnee word mshkikwam 'swampy ground'.[4] The name may also be from Lenape "Machkigen," referring to thorns, or a specific species of thorn bush.[5] Muskingum has also been taken to mean 'elk's eye' (mus wəshkinkw) by folk etymology, as in mus 'elk' [6] + wəshkinkw 'its eye'.[7] Moravian missionary David Zeisberger wrote that the Muskingum River was called Elk's Eye "because of the numbers of elk that formerly fed on its banks."[8]

A Lenape village named Muskingum was established in the area in 1747 and was an important trade center in the early 1750s, until it was devastated by smallpox in the winter of 1752.[9]: 356 

Statewide, the only other Muskingum Township is located in Washington County.

Emergency services

The Muskingum Township is protected by the Falls Township Fire Department, which provides Fire & EMS services to Falls Township, Muskingum Township and mutual aid for surrounding departments. Falls Township Fire Department currently has 3 stations.

Government

The township is governed by a three-member board of trustees, who are elected in November of odd-numbered years to a four-year term beginning on the following January 1. Two are elected in the year after the presidential election and one is elected in the year before it. There is also an elected township fiscal officer,[10] who serves a four-year term beginning on April 1 of the year after the election, which is held in November of the year before the presidential election. Vacancies in the fiscal officership or on the board of trustees are filled by the remaining trustees.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1820	872		—
1830	1,336		53.2%
1840	1,252		−6.3%
1850	1,509		20.5%
1860	1,230		−18.5%
1870	1,078		−12.4%
1880	1,018		−5.6%
1890	817		−19.7%
1900	812		−0.6%
1910	773		−4.8%
1920	647		−16.3%
1930	676		4.5%
1940	732		8.3%
1950	759		3.7%
1960	809		6.6%
1970	1,064		31.5%
1980	2,712		154.9%
1990	3,343		23.3%
2000	3,813		14.1%
2010	4,520		18.5%
2020	4,861		7.5%

Education

Nashport Elementary, which is part of the Tri-Valley Local School District, is located on Creamery Road in Muskingum Township.

References

1. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. October 25, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
2. "Muskingum township, Muskingum County, Ohio - Census Bureau Profile". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
3. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
4. Mahr, August C. (1957). "Indian River and Place Names in Ohio". Ohio History. 66 (2). Ohio Historical Society: 137–158. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
5. "Lenape Dictionary" (PDF). October 2000. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
6. "mus". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
7. "wëshkinkw". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on February 1, 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
8. David Zeisberger (1910). David Zeisberger's History of Northern American Indians. Press of F.J. Heer. p. 44.
9. Charles Augustus Hanna, The Wilderness Trail: Or, The Ventures and Adventures of the Pennsylvania Traders on the Allegheny Path, Volume 1, Putnam's sons, 1911
10. §503.24, §505.01, and §507.01 of the Ohio Revised Code. Accessed 4/30/2009.

External links

• County website