Worthington is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, United States, and is a northern suburb of Columbus.

The city was founded in 1803 by the Scioto Company led by James Kilbourne, who was later elected to the United States House of Representatives, and named in honor of Thomas Worthington, who later became governor of Ohio.

On August 30, 1802, James Kilbourne and Nathaniel Little arrived at Colonel Thomas Worthington's home in Chillicothe, Ohio.

They tentatively reserved land along the Scioto River on the Pickaway Plains for their new settlement (McCormick 1998:17).

On October 5, 1802, the Scioto Company met in Granby, Connecticut and decided not to purchase the lands along the Scioto River on the Pickaway Plains, but rather to buy land 30 miles (48 km) farther north from Dr. Jonas Stanbery and his partner, an American Revolutionary War general, Jonathan Dayton.

This land was part of the United States Military District surveyed by Israel Ludlow in 1797 and divided into townships 5 miles (8.0 km) square.

On August 10, 1803, the Scioto Company voted to name the village for Thomas Worthington, one of Ohio's first two senators, and for each member to contribute $2 (about four days wages) to support a library.

By December 1803, Worthington was divided into 160, three quarter acre city lots with a 5-acre (20,000 m2) public green in the center of the village.

On January 28, 1805, having completed its work of apportioning land and establishing the church, school and library, the Scioto Company was dissolved (McCormick 1998:76).

On February 20, 1808, the Worthington Academy was incorporated by the Ohio legislature and a brick building was constructed facing the northeast quadrant of the public square.

In 1811, Ezra Griswold built a large south-facing brick tavern on the lot north of the northeast quadrant of the public square.

During the War of 1812, several Worthington militia marched north with General William Hull's army and were surrendered at Detroit on August 12, 1812.

Orders issued by General William Henry Harrison from "Northwest Army Headquarters, Worthington, Ohio" on October 28, 1812, indicate the commander, like his supply wagons, was using the road north from the capital.

He concurrently served as rector of Episcopal churches in Columbus and Delaware and as principal of the Worthington Academy.

In 1826 the Columbus and Sandusky Turnpike was incorporated (now U.S. Route 23) to connect the center of the state to Lake Erie, further cementing the importance of High Street.

In September, 1861 Captain William Pinney and 14 members of the "Olentangy Reserves" mustered into Company E of Thomas Worthington Jr.'s 46th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which trained at Camp Lyon on the old Worthington Manufacturing Co. site southwest of the village.

On April 29, 1865, at Appx 6:50 AM, President Abraham Lincoln's funeral train passed through Worthington en route to the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus.

In 1866 the Bishop House was converted to the Union Hotel (Worthington Inn) by the Lewis family.

Except for a small border with Perry Township (Brookside Estates) on the west, Worthington is completely surrounded by Columbus.

Public transport is minimal in Worthington, though the Central Ohio Transit Authority operates bus line 102 along High Street.