Welcome to Athens ...
The city of Athens is located in Athens County<1> and is the County Seat for Athens County.
Google driving directions from your current location to Athens
While we don't have a date for the founding of Athens, you might consider that their post office opened in 1802.
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Athens has a population of 24,602 people<2> (see below for details).
Athens is 710 feet [216 m] above sea level.<3>.
Time Zone: Athens lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time
Area Codes for Athens: 740 & 220<4>
The ZIP code for Athens: 45701<5>
Websites for Athens ...
Official Website: www.ci.athens.oh.us/
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Athens had an population of 24,602 people. This is an increase of 3.23% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 15.28% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Athens had a population of 23,832 people (or 36.57% of the total population of Athens County). This makes Athens the county's most populous community.
The population of Athens represents 0.21% of the population of Ohio (which has 11,536,504 people), making it the state's 64th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 23,832 people, the population of Athens increased 11.67% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 21,342 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Athens.
Communities Also Named Athens ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 28 communities that are also named Athens - they are located in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas (2), Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Athens.
Communities near Athens ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Athens.
- Nelsonville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nelsonville have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelsonville
- Nelsonville is located in Athens County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,119 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nelsonville <7>
- Glouster
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glouster have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glouster
- Glouster is located in Athens County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,779 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glouster <7>
- Albany
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albany
- Albany is located in Athens County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 892 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Albany <7>
Google driving directions:
From your current location to Albany
From Athens to Albany
- New Straitsville
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Straitsville have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Straitsville
- New Straitsville is located in Perry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 715 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Straitsville <7>
- Shawnee
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shawnee
- Shawnee is located in Perry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 638 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shawnee <7>
Google driving directions:
From your current location to Shawnee
From Athens to Shawnee
- Corning
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corning
- Corning is located in Perry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 568 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Corning <7>
Google driving directions:
From your current location to Corning
From Athens to Corning
- Buchtel
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Buchtel. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<8>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buchtel
- Buchtel is located in Athens County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 568 people
Google driving directions:
From your current location to Buchtel
From Athens to Buchtel
- Coolville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coolville
- Coolville is located in Athens County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 493 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Coolville <7>
Google driving directions:
From your current location to Coolville
From Athens to Coolville
- Jacksonville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jacksonville have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonville
- Jacksonville is located in Athens County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 481 people
- Murray City
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Murray City have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murray City
- Murray City is located in Hocking County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 433 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Murray City <7>
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Athens. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Athens.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Athens. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Athens.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Athens. Our list includes 22 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Athens.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Athens ...
Looking for more information about Athens? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
In addition to the Tourism page for Athens, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Athens.
Adding Athens to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Athens in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Athens was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<9>
From that list, the Athens post office opened in 1802.
We also found Athens in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (Oct. 1846).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Athens.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Athens: www.ci.athens.oh.us/
The official website for Athens County: www.athenscountygovernment.com/
The official website for State of Ohio: https://ohio.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Ohio's counties, including Athens, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Athens. |
| <3> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Athens - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <4> | When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 740 code has been Overlayed with the 220 area code. New phone numbers in the Athens area will be assigned with one of these codes: 740 or 220. As a result, placing a call in the Athens area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number). |
| <5> | ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Athens). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Athens or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS). |
| <6> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <7> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <8> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <9> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |