Chillicothe, city, seat of Ross County, southern Ohio, on the Scioto River; settled 1796, incorporated 1802. It is an industrial center with a wide variety of manufactures in an agricultural region. The city's paper industry dates from 1812. Mound City Group National Monument and Ohio University Chillicothe Branch (1946) are here. Chillicothe became capital of the Northwest Territory in 1800 and served (1803-10, 1812-16) as Ohio's first state capital. The name is derived from a Shawnee term for “chief town.” Population 23,420 (1980); 21,923 (1990); 21,796 (2000).
