Knox county, created in 1808 with land taken from Fairfield county, is located in central Ohio about 30 miles northeast of Columbus and uses Mount Vernon as the county seat. The county population on July 1, 1999, was 53,903, an increase of 6,430 over the 1990 census.

The county is named for Henry Knox, Washington's Chief of Artillery in the Revolutionary War. Notable persons born in the county include Mary Ann Bickerdyke, America's first nurse during the Civil War.

The county seat has been called the Greek Revival Capital of Ohio, although many of the buildings in that style have been destroyed. In addition, the U.S. State Department chose Mt. Vernon to represent a model American city for an article in a Russian magazine.