Portsmouth is a city in and the county seat of Scioto County, Ohio, United States. Located in southern Ohio 41 miles (66 km) south of Chillicothe, it lies on the north bank of the Ohio River, across from Kentucky, just east of the mouth of the Scioto River. The population was 18,252 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Portsmouth micropolitan area.
Downtown Portsmouth looking north from U.S. Grant Bridge
The steamer Bonanza in Portsmouth during the 1884 flood
Aerial view of downtown Portsmouth
A painting of the confluence of the Ohio and Scioto rivers, showing the dissected plateau terrain and the Carl D. Perkins Bridge.
Scioto County is a county along the Ohio River in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Ohio. At the 2020 census, the population was 74,008. Its county seat is Portsmouth. The county was founded on March 24, 1804, from Adams County and is named for a Native American word referring to deer or deer-hunting. Scioto County comprises the Portsmouth, OH Micropolitan Statistical Area. It is at the confluence of the Scioto and Ohio rivers.
Scioto County Courthouse
A nighttime view of the newly built U.S. Grant Bridge carrying U.S. 23 over the Ohio River into downtown Portsmouth from Kentucky
