What is the geography of Athens, Ohio?
Athens is located at (39.329427, -82.096237). Athens is located in the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau. The county extends west from the Ohio River, mostly centering around the lower Hocking River watershed. Athens is located mostly on and around a south-jutting ridge bordered by a loop in the Hocking River. The underlying geology is mostly sandstone and shale, including “redbed” shale that presents a severe slip hazard when structures are built over it on hillsides. Most hillsides, though, are solid sandstone and present very little slip potential. The old Athens Mental Hospital grounds (now part of the university), for example, was built on the top of a hillside in the late 1860s, and is completely stable. The new University Courtyard Apartments is built on the same ridge with the same underlying geology on the other side of a cut made by a small creek. The city receives all its water supply from wells in unconsolidated river aquifers, and is reputed to be the largest city in the Unite
