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On January 3, 1815, the Ohio government authorized the creation of Pike County. Residents named the county in honor of Zebulon Pike, an explorer and the man who discovered Pike's Peak. In the 1830s, upon completion of the Ohio and Erie Canal, the county grew quickly.
Pike County is located in southern Ohio. It is predominantly rural, with one percent of the county's 441 square miles consisting of urban areas. The county seat is Waverly. With a population of 4,433 people, Waverly was the county's largest community in 2000. Unlike many of Ohio's more rural counties, Pike County experienced an increase in population