Russia, OH

Russia is a Shelby County village in Loramie Township, pronounced ROO-she, in western Ohio’s French-settled church country. The 2020 census counted 712 residents. Russia Local School serves grades K–12, and Shelby County Libraries maintain a public library branch. Farm roads, churches, school grounds, and old village storefronts make up the everyday map. St. Remy’s parish sits within western Ohio’s cross-tipped church region, where French-speaking families established farms, stores, and congregations across southwestern Shelby County and nearby Darke County.

The earliest settlers were French-speaking Swiss who had served under L. Napoleon Bonaparte; local tradition connects the village name to a battle those veterans fought in Russia. St. Remy parish began with a log church in the 1850s and later built a brick church completed in 1892. Lewis Phillips founded the village, built the first house in 1853, and opened its first grocery store. Sawmills and small businesses followed, giving Russia a working history that still sits beside its school, library, and church life.