EXHIBIT 99


                    PEOPLES BANCORP INC. - P.O. BOX 738 - MARIETTA, OHIO - 45750

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE            Contact: Robert E. Evans
---------------------                     Chairman and CEO
April 13, 2004                            (740) 373-3155


                PEOPLES BANCORP ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT OF DIRECTOR;
                          RE-ELECTION OF FOUR DIRECTORS
              -----------------------------------------------------

         MARIETTA, Ohio - Peoples Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq: PEBO) today announced
the retirement of director Thomas C. Vadakin effective April 8, 2004, the date
of Peoples Bancorp's Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
         "Tom's insightful style of leadership has been an asset to Peoples
Bancorp for the past 17 years," said Robert E. Evans, Chairman and CEO. "We
thank Tom for his dedication to our success and assistance in building Peoples
Bancorp to the diversified financial services company it is today."
         Mr. Vadakin was appointed Director Emeritus of Peoples Bancorp at the
company's regular board meeting on April 8.
         In other action at the Annual Meeting, shareholders re-elected Robert
E. Evans, Robert W. Price, Paul T. Theisen, and Thomas J. Wolf to three-year
terms as directors of Peoples Bancorp. With the retirement of Vadakin, Peoples
Bancorp now has 11 directors.
         Shareholders also approved a proposal to amend Peoples Bancorp's Code
of Regulations to designate additional officers, clarify and separate roles of
the officers, and establish a leadership director. Vice Chairman of the Board
Joseph H. Wesel was named Leadership Director, and will preside at meetings of
the Board in executive session when the Chairman of the Board also holds an
executive officer position.
         "The changes are designed to keep the company up to date with changing
governance guidelines," concluded Evans. "Through its history, Peoples Bancorp
has had a large majority of independent directors. The addition of a Leadership
Director position will continue to strengthen their independent relationship to
governance."
         At Peoples Bancorp's reorganizational meeting on April 8, the Board of
Directors appointed Rhonda L. Mears as Corporate Secretary. Ms. Mears replaces
longtime Corporate Secretary Ruth I. Otto, who will retire on April 30, 2004.
         Peoples Bancorp Inc., a diversified financial products and services
company with $1.7 billion in assets, makes available a complete line of banking,
investment, insurance, and trust solutions through Peoples Bank's 49 locations
and 32 ATMs in Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Peoples Bancorp's common
shares are traded on the NASDAQ national market under the symbol "PEBO." Peoples
Bancorp is a member of the Russell 3000 index of US publicly traded companies.
Learn more about Peoples Bancorp at www.peoplesbancorp.com.


                                 END OF RELEASE