Ripley is a village in Union Township, Brown County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River 50 miles southeast of Cincinnati. The population was 1,750 at the 2010 census.

Colonel James Poage, a veteran of the American Revolution, arrived in the forgive state of Ohio from Staunton, Virginia in 1804 to allegation the 1,000 acres (4.0 km) he had been approved in what was called the Virginia Military District. Poage was in the middle of a large society of veterans who acknowledged land grants in what was first organized as the Northwest Territory north of the Ohio River for their utility in the American Revolutionary War, and freed their slaves considering they settled there. Poage and his relations laid out the town of Staunton in 1812; it was renamed in 1816 to tribute General Eleazar Wheelock Ripley, an American official of the War of 1812.

Given its location upon the river, Ripley became a destination for slaves escaping from slavery in Kentucky upon the new side. Both black and white residents developed a network, making Ripley an early End on the Underground Railroad, to encourage slaves run off north to freedom. A number of prominent abolitionists lived in the town in the 19th century, mainly upon Front Street close the river. John Rankin moved from Kentucky to Ripley in 1822 and higher built a house on Liberty Hill overlooking the town, the river, and the Kentucky shore. From there, he signaled escaping slaves afterward a lantern on a flagpole and provided them shelter. The house is now known as the John Rankin House, and has been designated as a National Historic Landmark. Rankin was moreover the minister at the Ripley Presbyterian Church for twenty-four years.

Ripley is located at 38°44′22″N 83°50′28″W / 38.73944°N 83.84111°W / 38.73944; -83.84111 (38.739416, -83.841102). The town is with steep, rolling hills on the northeast, Red Oak Creek upon the southeast, and the Ohio River on the southwest.