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Gallipolis is a village in Gallia County, Ohio, and it serves as the county seat, sitting on the Ohio River in the southeastern part of the state.

Gallipolis was founded on October 17, 1790, making it the second settlement founded in the newly organized Northwest Territory of the United States.

Gallipolis was settled by 'the French 500,' a group of French aristocrats, merchants, and artisans fleeing the violence of the French Revolution — which is why it is still known as 'The Old French City.'

The village's name means 'City of the Gauls,' and Gallia County itself takes its name from Gallia, the Latin name for ancient France, in honor of the French settlers.

The French 500 were victims of a famous land swindle: they had bought deeds from the Scioto Company for land the company did not actually own, and Congress eventually had to grant them replacement land in what became known as the French Grant.

When the French settlers arrived, New England woodsmen had already built them 80 log houses and four blockhouses around a public square — the site is preserved today as Gallipolis City Park, between downtown and the river.

Gallipolis grew into a thriving Ohio River port in the 1800s, and postal service reached the settlement as early as 1794.

The village's 'Our House' tavern, built around 1819, is a historic landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as are the stone water towers of the old Gallipolis Epileptic Hospital, built in 1892.

Gallipolis had 3,313 residents at the 2020 census, living in 1,538 households, and it is pronounced 'GAL-uh-puh-LEESS.'

Major employers around Gallipolis include the American Electric Power Gavin Plant, the Ohio Valley Electric Corporation's Kyger Creek power plant, and the Holzer Health System, founded from the first hospital Dr. Charles E. Holzer Sr. established in Gallipolis in 1909.