Xenia ( ZEEN yə) is a city in Greene County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located in southwestern Ohio, it is 15 miles (24 km) east of Dayton and is part of the Dayton metropolitan area as well as the Miami Valley region. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 25,441. The city’s name comes from the Greek word Xenia (ξενία), which means ‘hospitality’.
At a Glance
- County: Greene County
- County seat of Greene County
- State: Ohio
History of Xenia
Xenia was founded in 1803, the same year Ohio was admitted to the Union. In that year, Hollander American pioneer John Paul bought 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) of land from Thomas and Elizabeth Richardson of Hanover County, Virginia, for "1050 pounds current moneys of Virginia." Paul influenced county commissioners to locate the county seat on this land at the forks of the Shawnee creeks, stimulating development of the settlement here.
Joseph C. Vance was named to survey the site and lay out the town. The following year, he bought the town site of 257 acres (1.04 km2) from John Paul for $250. The name of the new village was chosen in typically democratic fashion. Vance called a town meeting to discuss possible names. The committee had considered several suggestions without reaching any decision. Then the Rev. Robert Armstrong proposed the name "Xenia," meaning "hospitality" in Greek, because of the fine hospitality extended to him in this friendly community. When a tie vote occurred, Laticia Davis, wife of Owen Davis, was invited to cast the deciding ballot. She voted for "Xenia."
The first session of the Ohio General Assembly created Greene County from the Northwest Territory. It took in the homeland of the Shawnee Indians. Their chief tribal village was north of Xenia at Old Chillicothe, now called Old Town. The Shawnee war chief Tecumseh was born there in 1768.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Xenia, Ohio, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.