Belpre Township is one of the twenty-two townships

Civil township

A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States, subordinate to, and geographic divisions of, a county. Specific responsibilities and the degree of autonomy vary based on each state. Civil townships are distinct from survey townships, but in states that have both,...

 of Washington County

Washington County, Ohio

Washington County is a county located in the state of Ohio. As of the 2010 census, the population was 61,778. Its county seat is Marietta. The county, the oldest in the state, is named for George Washington. Washington County is included in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna, West Virginia-Ohio...

, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The 2000 census

United States Census, 2000

The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...

 found 4,192 people in the township.

Geography

Located in the southwestern part of the county along the Ohio River

Ohio River

The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...

, it borders the following townships:

• Dunham Township
  Dunham Township, Washington County, Ohio
  Dunham Township is one of the twenty-two townships of Washington County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 2,505 people in the township.-Geography:...
  
   - north
• Troy Township, Athens County
  Troy Township, Athens County, Ohio
  Troy Township is one of the fourteen townships of Athens County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 2,712 people in the township, 2,184 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.-Geography:...
  
   - southwest
• Decatur Township
  Decatur Township, Washington County, Ohio
  Decatur Township is one of the twenty-two townships of Washington County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 1,181 people in the township.-Geography:Located in the southwestern corner of the county, it borders the following townships:...
  
   - west

Wood County

Wood County, West Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 87,986 people, 36,275 households, and 24,884 families residing in the county. The population density was 240 people per square mile . There were 39,785 housing units at an average density of 108 per square mile...

, West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

 lies across the Ohio River to the southeast.

Two populated places are located in Belpre Township along the Ohio River: The city of Belpre

Belpre, Ohio

Belpre is a city in Washington County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. It is part of the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna, WV-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 6,441 at the 2010 census....

, in the southeast; and the unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 of Little Hocking

Little Hocking, Ohio

Little Hocking is a census-designated place in southern Belpre Township, Washington County, Ohio, United States. Although it is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 45742....

, in the southwest.

Name and history

With a name derived from the French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

for "beautiful meadows", it is the only Belpre Township statewide.

Government

The township is governed by a three-member board of trustees, who are elected in November of odd-numbered years to a four-year term beginning on the following January 1. Two are elected in the year after the presidential election and one is elected in the year before it. There is also an elected township fiscal officer, who serves a four-year term beginning on April 1 of the year after the election, which is held in November of the year before the presidential election. Vacancies in the fiscal officership or on the board of trustees are filled by the remaining trustees.