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Ohio County
Holmes County, Ohio
The world's largest Amish community and Ohio's Swiss heritage - from Holmes County's designation as home to the world's largest concentration of Amish people (over 40,000 Old Order Amish in Holmes and adjacent Wayne, Tuscarawas, and Coshocton counties - the largest Amish settlement on Earth) to Berlin's Amish-country tourism (drawing over 3 million visitors annually to farm stands, furniture workshops, quilt shops, and restaurants serving exceptional Amish cuisine) and Sugarcreek's Swiss heritage (the "Little Switzerland of Ohio," with Swiss-style architecture and the annual Ohio Swiss Festival celebrating the community's Swiss and German immigrant roots).
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Office: Holmes County Emergency Management Agency – 2 Court Street, Suite 11, Millersburg, OH 44654 | (330) 674-0989 | [email protected]; uses WENS (subscription-based) for emergency notifications; the county Hazard Mitigation Plan was originally FEMA-approved in 2007, updated 2014 and 2019-2020 per the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. Note: many Amish households in the county do not use conventional phone/electric service – infrastructure investment in the county targets roads and bridges over broadband, reflecting community preferences.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: SR-83 and SR-39/241 serve Millersburg, the county seat, in northeast-central Ohio, about 66 miles south of Cleveland
Transit: No dedicated county-wide public transit system was found in this search – confirm directly with the county or your city; expect frequent horse-drawn buggy traffic sharing the roads throughout the county.
Notes: Holmes County Airport, two miles southwest of Millersburg, serves the county.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Holmes County Building/Permits – confirm current contact via co.holmes.oh.us.
Notes: Holmes County is genuinely, remarkably home to the largest concentration of Amish in the world – as of 2020, roughly 48% of the county’s population was Amish (up from 42% in 2010), the highest percentage of any U.S. county, and experts have suggested it may become the first majority-Amish county in the nation. The broader “Ohio Amish Country” settlement centered here (spanning into neighboring Wayne, Coshocton, and Tuscarawas counties) numbers close to 40,000 people, the second-largest Amish community in the world after Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The settlement dates to 1808. Tourist destinations within the county include Berlin, Sugarcreek, Walnut Creek, and Mount Hope, drawing millions of visitors annually for traditional craftsmanship, horse-drawn buggies, handmade furniture, and farm markets; notable local businesses include Heini’s Bunker Hill Cheese and Guggisberg Cheese (Baby Swiss production). Holmes County was formed January 4, 1825 from portions of Coshocton, Tuscarawas, and Wayne counties, named for Major Andrew Holmes, an officer killed in the War of 1812.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Holmes County Veterans Service Office – confirm current address/phone via co.holmes.oh.us.
State: Ohio Department of Veterans Services – dvs.ohio.gov
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Holmes County District Public Library – Millersburg, OH; confirm current branch address/phone via co.holmes.oh.us or the library’s own site.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Amish & Mennonite Heritage Center in Berlin (featuring a 265-foot illustrated mural of Amish history), Berlin Village shopping district, and the surrounding Amish Country farmland/craft shops are the county’s premier, nationally significant attractions.
Notes: The genuine status as the world’s second-largest Amish community and highest-concentration Amish county in the U.S. is one of the most distinctive facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Holmes County Auditor – confirm current phone via co.holmes.oh.us; dog license fee $15/dog (due by January 31; doubles to $30 after deadline).
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Holmes County Dog Warden’s Department and Adoption Center – 5387 CR 349, Millersburg, OH 44654 | (330) 674-6301 | Fax: (330) 674-1009 | [email protected]; Chief Dog Warden Jonathan Beam; enforces ORC 955 and 959; funded solely through donations; adoption fee $52 (includes license, microchip, leash, collar, 7-way vaccination).
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Holmes County Solid Waste – confirm current contact via co.holmes.oh.us.
NOTES: Holmes County is the third county in this batch (Highland, Hocking, Holmes, Huron, Jackson, Jefferson, Knox) of the Ohio v2 redo. The genuine status as the world’s second-largest Amish community and highest-concentration Amish county in the U.S. is one of the most distinctive 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 Holmes County
Holmes County is the epicenter of the world’s largest Amish settlement – a northeastern Ohio hill county where horse-drawn buggies, one-room schoolhouses, hand-crafted furniture, and traditional farming practices coexist with a substantial tourism industry serving millions of visitors annually.
The Holmes County Amish settlement – encompassing portions of Wayne, Tuscarawas, and Coshocton counties – has grown to over 40,000 Old Order Amish, surpassing the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania settlement as the world’s largest. The community’s high birth rate and low defection rate (rumspringa notwithstanding) have driven continuous growth.
Berlin (population ~1,000 Amish-country tourism hub) draws an estimated 3 million visitors annually – the Amish and Mennonite Heritage Center, dozens of furniture and craft shops, and restaurants serving Amish cooking make it one of Ohio’s top tourism destinations despite its tiny permanent population.
Sugarcreek (population ~2,300) celebrates its Swiss German heritage with the Ohio Swiss Festival each September – yodeling contests, Steinstossen (stone throwing), and Swiss music reflect the community’s immigrant heritage.
Millersburg (the county seat, population ~3,300) features the Victorian House Museum, one of Ohio’s finest examples of Queen Anne residential architecture.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Holmes County Auditor at 1 E. Jackson Street, Suite 500, Millersburg, OH 44654, phone 330-674-1896. Appeal to County Board of Revision by April 1.
Courts & Legal
Holmes County Probate Court at 1 E. Jackson Street, Suite 200, Millersburg, OH 44654, phone 330-674-1876, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
PROBATE COURT
1 East Jackson St, Millersburg, OH 44654
(330) 674-1876
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Holmes County Probate Court, Millersburg (probate/estate case files; birth and death records from 1908 through the Health District – see Probate section above).
The 1880 Holmes County Courthouse, NRHP-listed, is a significant local landmark.
Local societies
Holmes County Chapter (Ohio Genealogical Society) 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
Holmes County Probate Court 1 East Jackson Street, Suite 201, Millersburg, OH 44654 (330) 674-5881
Holmes County was founded January 4, 1825, named for Andrew Holmes, in east-central Ohio, seated in Millersburg – the heart of Ohio’s Amish Country. The 1880 Holmes County Courthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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 Holmes 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
1 East Jackson St, Millersburg, OH 44654
(330) 674-1876
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
44 West Jackson St, Millersburg, OH 44654
(330) 674-1936
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
BOARD OF ELECTIONS
85 North Monroe St, Millersburg, OH 44654
(330) 674-5921
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
General Health District
85 North Monroe St, Millersburg, OH 44654
(330) 674-5035
Job and Family Services
85 North Monroe St, Millersburg, OH 44654
(330) 674-0334
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Holmes County General Health District – [email protected] | (330) 675-5035; after-hours public health emergencies: (330) 674-5035 (routes to the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office).
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Millersburg
Population: 44,000
Established: 1824
Tier: 3
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Holmes County residents.
