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Ohio County
Gallia County, Ohio
Gallipolis and the French 500's American tragedy - from Gallipolis's founding by 500 French refugees (the Scioto Company's 1790 land fraud lured 500 French aristocrats and professionals fleeing the Revolution to a raw Ohio River frontier with promises of a prepared settlement - they arrived to find nothing, and many died in the first harsh winter, leaving a community that nevertheless survived and preserved French cultural memory) to Bob Evans' Restaurant founding (Bob Evans began selling sausage from his Gallia County farm in 1946, launching one of the most successful regional restaurant chains in America) and the Ohio River's industrial and recreational character.
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Office: Gallia County Emergency Management Agency – (740) 441-2036; coordinates the Emergency Public Notification System (Everbridge), which calls all listed numbers simultaneously in an emergency.
911: Gallia County 911 Center – non-emergency Sheriff’s Department: (740) 446-1221 | Gallipolis Police (non-emergency): (740) 446-1313 | EMS/Fire business line: (740) 446-3126.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911; you can dial 911 from a coin-operated phone without inserting money.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-35 and SR-7 serve Gallipolis, the county seat, on the Ohio River in southeastern Ohio
Transit: No dedicated county-wide public transit system was found in this search – confirm directly with the county or your city
Notes: Gallia County was established in 1803 from land that was once part of Washington County.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Gallia County Building/Permits – confirm current contact via galliacountyoh.gov.
Notes: Gallia County has a genuinely remarkable founding story. In October 1790, roughly 500 French refugees – known to history as “the French 500” – arrived at what became Gallipolis (Greek/French for “City of the Gauls”), having fled the French Revolution and purchased land from the Scioto Company, only to discover upon arrival that their land grants were worthless due to an overseas swindle. President George Washington personally intervened, arranging for them to settle Ohio Company lands south of Marietta instead; the settlers cleared land and built roughly 80-100 log cabins in what is today Gallipolis City Park. The county’s very name, “Gallia,” is the classical Latin word for France, chosen in their honor. On May 22, 1825, the Marquis de Lafayette – the last surviving French general of the American Revolutionary War – visited the Our House Tavern (built 1819) during his American tour and left behind his jacket, still displayed today in a glass case on the building’s second floor. Gallipolis is also the hometown of Bob Evans, founder of the nationally known Bob Evans Restaurants chain, and syndicated newspaper columnist O.O. McIntyre.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Gallia County Veterans Service Office – confirm current address/phone via galliacountyoh.gov.
State: Ohio Department of Veterans Services – dvs.ohio.gov
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Dr. Samuel L. Bossard Memorial Library (Gallia County District Library) – 7 Spruce Street, Gallipolis, OH 45631 | (740) 446-7323 | bossardlibrary.org.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Gallipolis City Park (site of the original French 500 settlement), the Our House Tavern Museum, and the Gallipolis Historic District are the county’s signature heritage attractions.
Notes: The genuine “French 500” founding story – including George Washington’s personal intervention and the Marquis de Lafayette’s 1825 visit – is one of the most distinctive, historically significant facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Gallia County Auditor – confirm current phone via galliacountyoh.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Gallia County Canine (Animal) Shelter – 186 Shawnee Lane, Gallipolis, OH 45631 | (740) 441-0207 | [email protected] | Hours: Mon-Sat 10 AM-1 PM, other times by appointment; Chief Dog Warden Alonna Grimm; a member of the Ohio County Dog Wardens Association; adoption fee $57 (includes spay/neuter voucher and tags for Ohio residents).
Nonprofit: Gallia County Animal Welfare League – PO Box 216, Gallipolis, OH | volunteer-run, offers spay/neuter and emergency assistance for qualifying residents.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Gallia County Solid Waste – confirm current contact via galliacountyoh.gov.
NOTES: Gallia County is the sixth county in this batch (Erie, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, Gallia, Geauga) of the Ohio v2 redo. The genuine “French 500” founding story – with George Washington’s direct intervention and the Marquis de Lafayette’s 1825 visit – is one of the most distinctive, historically significant facts covered anywhere in this project. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Gallia County
Gallia County is southeastern Ohio’s French-heritage river county – a community whose founding story is one of the most poignant in American frontier history and whose modern identity includes an unlikely connection to American casual dining.
Gallipolis (the county seat, population ~3,600) – French for “City of the Gauls” – was settled in 1790 by approximately 500 French refugees who paid the Scioto Company for land grants that the company did not own. Arriving on the raw Ohio frontier to find no prepared settlement, many died during the first winter. The survivors built the community that bears the French name, and the Our House State Memorial preserves the 1819 tavern that served as a social center for the early French settlement.
Bob Evans – born in Gallia County and raised on a farm near Rio Grande – founded the Bob Evans Farms sausage operation in 1946 and the Bob Evans Restaurant chain that grew to over 500 locations across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic.
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Gallia County Auditor at 18 Locust Street, Room 1280, Gallipolis, OH 45631, phone 740-446-4612. Appeal to County Board of Revision by April 1.
Courts & Legal
Gallia County Probate Court at 18 Locust Street, Room 1290, Gallipolis, OH 45631, phone 740-446-4612, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
PROBATE COURT
18 Locust St, Gallipolis, OH 45631
(740) 446-4612
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Gallia County Probate Court, Gallipolis (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Gallia County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Gallia County Probate Court 18 Locust Street, Room 1293 (3rd Floor), Gallipolis, OH 45631 (740) 446-3842 Gallia County is in southeastern Ohio along the Ohio River, seated in Gallipolis.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Ohio has not adopted the Uniform Probate Code, but has incorporated some streamlined concepts into its own system under Title 21 of the Ohio Revised Code (ORC Chapters 2101-2131).
Summary Release from Administration (ORC § 2113.03) – available for very small estates valued at $5,000 or less. Lets the court release assets quickly, often to cover funeral expenses and support the surviving family, without a fiduciary being appointed.
Release from Administration (ORC § 2113.03) – Ohio’s broader small-estate shortcut. Available when the gross probate estate is $35,000 or less, OR up to $100,000 if the entire estate passes to a surviving spouse (by will or by Ohio’s intestacy law). No executor/administrator is appointed; the court releases the estate directly to the person(s) entitled to it.
Full Estate Administration – required when the estate exceeds these thresholds or the situation is otherwise contested or complex. The court appoints a fiduciary (Ohio’s term for executor/administrator), issues a Certificate of Appointment once any will is admitted, and the fiduciary inventories assets, publishes notice to creditors, pays debts, and distributes what remains under ongoing court supervision.
Step 2: filing for administration
File the will (if any) and an application with the Probate Court in the county where the decedent resided.
If pursuing Release from Administration or Summary Release, complete the applicable court forms (Form 5.0 for standard Release, Form 5.10 for Summary Release) along with a complete asset inventory and supporting documents.
For full administration, the court issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration to the appointed fiduciary.
The fiduciary publishes notice to creditors; claims generally must be presented within 6 months of the date of death.
The fiduciary inventories and manages estate assets, pays valid debts and expenses, and distributes what remains according to the will or Ohio’s intestacy law, reporting to the court along the way.
The estate is closed once a final account is filed and approved by the court.
What it costs
Filing fees vary by county – check with Gallia County directly for current fees.
No state estate tax, no state inheritance tax (repealed effective January 1, 2013). Only the federal estate tax could apply, and only to very large estates ($15,000,000 per individual as of 2026).
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
PROBATE COURT
18 Locust St, Gallipolis, OH 45631
(740) 446-4612
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
24 Locust St, Gallipolis, OH 45631
(740) 446-1221
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
BOARD OF ELECTIONS
18 Locust St, Gallipolis, OH 45631
(740) 446-3910
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
592 State Route 850, Gallipolis, OH 45631
(740) 446-2400
Job and Family Services
3 Statehouse Alley, Gallipolis, OH 45631
(740) 446-1791
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Gallia County Health Department – confirm current contact via galliacountyoh.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Gallipolis
Population: 29,000
Established: 1803
Tier: 3
Public Records
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