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History · Bonpas Township

Bonpas Township’s post office opened in 1849

Most of Bonpas Township was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: maps from 1911 on.

1849first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Bonpas Township began

When was Bonpas Township founded?

1849

The Bonpas Township post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Bonpas (1849), Berryville (1884) and Redhead (1888), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 428177 years
Founding year: the first Bonpas Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Bonpas Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Bonpas Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Bonpas Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1849: 177 years of Bonpas Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bonpas Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bonpas Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bonpas
1849–1902
Berryville
1884–1902
Redhead
1888–1890
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Berryville
Gone or out of use
Breston SchoolschoolHarrison SchoolschoolKimmel SchoolschoolOak Grove SchoolschoolRedhead SchoolschoolVictory SchoolschoolWhitaker Schoolschool
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bonpas Township
Mount HopeOtterbeinRidgelyShiloh Number 1SmithWalnut GroveWhitaker

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Timeline

Bonpas Township, 1849 to 1911

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1849Post officeThe Bonpas post office opens
  3. 1884Post officeThe Berryville post office opens
  4. 1888Post officeThe Redhead post office opens
  5. 1890Post officeThe Redhead post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1902Post officeThe Bonpas post office closes
  8. 1902Post officeThe Berryville post office closes
  9. 1911On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Bonpas Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bonpas Township.

Read it all →

Bonpas Township was formed after an 1858 election, in which county voters chose to adopt a township-based model of county government, in place of the old precinct-based system. Named for Bonpas Creek, which flows through its boundaries, the township was originally heavily wooded. Early settlers favored this part of Richland County above others, but as experience taught the value of flat prairie ahead of hilly woodlands, the township languished. Before the coming of the Ohio and Mississippi Railway, when good transportation was unavailable, most coal and stone used in Richland County came from Bonpas Township.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Bonpas Township on the map in 1911

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bonpas Township.

Bonpas Township on the 1911 USGS map1911Sumner sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bonpas Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Bonpas Township

Nobody well known was born in Bonpas Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
L
Lester MelroseAmerican record producer · b. 1891
Martin D. FosterAmerican politician · b. 1861
F
Frances CraneAmerican writer · b. 1890
F
Frank MelroseAmerican musician · b. 1907
C
Cale James HolderUnited States federal judge · b. 1912
J
Jack RyanAmerican baseball pitcher · b. 1884
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Lukin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townClaremont TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMadison TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bonpas Township’s history

What year was Bonpas Township founded?

The Bonpas Township post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.