Scioto County is a picturesque community located at the confluence of the Scioto and Ohio Rivers in South Central Ohio. Encompassing a total area of 611 square miles, many parts of the county are heavily forested, especially in the western half of the county with Shawnee State Park. Portsmouth is the county seat and there are four villages and 16 townships.
Scioto Brush Creek is a rural part of Scioto County covering 10.6 square miles. It is home to the Scioto Brush Creek Nature Preserve. Scioto Brush Creek State Nature Preserve protects over a mile of Scioto Brush Creek which is one of the most biologically diverse streams in Ohio. Scioto Brush Creek has over 70 species of fish including longnose gar (Lepisosteus osseus) and rosyside dace (Clinostomus funduloides). The preserve contains mature trees, spring wildflowers, and rare species. The preserve protects one of four populations of the Federal Threatened Appalachian spiraea (Spiraea virginiana), a shrub known only in Ohio from the Scioto Brush Creek watershed.
Otway is a rural, incorporated village in the northwest part of Scioto County. It is home to the Otway Covered Bridge which is on the National Registry of Historic Places. The Otway Historical Society works to preserve it.
Portsmouth is the gateway to three states and is within 90 miles of many major metropolitan markets. Located on the beautiful Ohio River, Portsmouth, the county seat, was carefully laid out where the Scioto and Ohio Rivers meet.
The city of Portsmouth, OH is just 89 miles south of Columbus on U.S. 23; 112 miles east of Cincinnati, OH via U.S. 52 (a scenic route) or State Route 32; and 54 miles west of Huntington, WV on U.S. 52.
The history of our area dates from the discovery of the Ohio Valley by the French in 1749. In 1803, Henry Massie founded the city of Portsmouth. Due to the annual floods, especially the two severe floods in 1808, the people and the former county seat of Alexandria were moved to present day Portsmouth. Portsmouth was officially incorporated on December 29, 1814. The city was named after Portsmouth, NH, the hometown of Josiah Shackford, a good friend of Henry Massie.
The city is served by the Portsmouth City Schools.
Rarden is a small village in Scioto County. The village was incorporated in 1886 and named in honor of an early settler, Thomas Rarden.
Once its own community in Scioto County, Ohio, Sciotoville is now part of Portsmouth, Ohio.
Sciotoville is especially known for the Sciotoville Railroad Bridge, a riveted truss bridge. Completed in 1917, the bridge originally connected the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in Kentucky with the Norfolk and Western Railroad in Ohio. The bridge provided farmers, business owners, and coal companies in Kentucky and West Virginia easier access to more northerly markets in Ohio and along the Great Lakes. The Sciotoville Railroad Bridge's single truss extends 1,550 feet across the Ohio River. At its highest point, the bridge towers 236 feet above the river. It is the longest riveted truss bridge in the United States of America.
Sciotoville is served by the Sciotoville East Community Schools.