Glouster Map
Glouster is a village in Athens County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,972 at the 2000 census. It is close to Burr Oak State Park.
Glouster was named after Gloucester, United Kingdom, but was misspelled by a clerk when the name was telegraphed to Washington, and the misspelling stuck. The community was one of a number of area villages established to serve the coal-mining industry, and once featured several active deep mines. A wave of immigration at end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries brought men and then their families from the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe to the villages in the area. Glouster had a very active train station in the "downtown" area which was closed and now serves as a community center. Significantly, area schools were consolidated in the 1960s into the Trimble Local School district.
A Buckingham Coal Company deep mine is located north of town. The nearby mining pit was recently closed, with active operations moved to the east of Burr Oak State Park, but the loading station is still at the old site because of the location of the railroad. The Trimble high school and middle school provide some local employment, as does a beer distributor (Miller Brands), and Frog Ranch Salsa. Some local residents commute to work in industry in Logan, Ohio, or to jobs in Athens, Ohio. Tourist activity from nearby Burr Oak State Park as well as hunting in various nearby public lands also supports the economy to a small extent. The village owns its own electrical and water utility, although it purchases the electricity from American Electric Power and the water from the Sunday Creek Water District.
Nearby cities include Trimble, Chesterhill, Athens, Malta, Stockport.