Yohogania County - Reorganization of Local Government After Resolution of Boundary Dispute

Reorganization of Local Government After Resolution of Boundary Dispute

Allegheny County was formed in 1788 from Westmoreland and Washington counties. Most of the present territory of Allegheny County, including most of Pittsburgh (with the notable exception of what is now the northside (Pittsburgh), formerly its own municipality Allegheny City, PA), was once claimed by Yohogania. Beaver County was created in 1800 from parts of Allegheny and Washington. The southern part, known locally as "South Side Beaver" because it is south of the Ohio River, was once claimed by Yohogania. (Greene County, formed in 1796 from Washington, does not include any territory once claimed by Yohogania but was once claimed by Ohio and Monongalia counties.)

The part of Yohogania that remained in Virginia was from Cross Creek north. This creek is just south of the present-day town of Follansbee, West Virginia, entering the Ohio River across from Mingo Junction, Ohio. In 1791, this remnant area was made part of the newly-created Brooke County, Virginia, though the southern part of Brooke, including the county seat, Wellsburg, had been part of Ohio County. In 1848, the northern half of Brooke—roughly two-thirds of the Yohogania remnant—became Hancock County, Virginia. On June 20, 1863, both Brooke and Hancock, as well as Ohio and Monongalia (and the counties since formed from Ohio and Monongalia) became part of the new state of West Virginia.