Preble County, Ohio
county in Ohio, United States
Preble County ( PREH-bəl) is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,999, down 3.0% from the 2010 census population of 42,270. Its county seat is Eaton. The county was formed on February 15, 1808, from portions of Butler and Montgomery Counties. It is named for Edward Preble, a naval officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War and against the Barbary Pirates.
Major highways
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 426 square miles (1,100 km2), of which 424 square miles (1,100 km2) is land and 2.3 square miles (6.0 km2) (0.5%) is water.
Adjacent counties
Darke County (north)
Montgomery County (east)
Butler County (south)
Union County, Indiana (southwest)
Wayne County, Indiana (northwest)
Rivers and streams
Little Four Mile Creek
Harker's Run
Seven Mile Creek
Twin Creek
Price Creek
Goose Creek
Pottinger Run
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 40,999 and a median age of 43.4 years. 22.6% of residents were under the age of 18 and 20.5% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 98.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 97.4 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 94.8% White, 0.5% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.4% from some other race, and 3.7% from two or more races.
“Preble County, Ohio” enters the record as county in Ohio, United States. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Preble, County and Ohio can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Preble County, Ohio” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Preble, County and Ohio provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q489935. VIAF identifies the subject as 159448338. The Library of Congress control number is n80117926. Authority coordinates are 39.740, -84.650. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 2010 and 1808.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
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Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Preble County, Ohio” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.