Johnson Township, established in March 1843 by the county commissioners, was one of the later areas of the county to be settled, it being originally included in the Big Miami Reserve and not open to white settlement until after the cession of 1838. The township's first white settlers were brothers George, William and Charles Thomas who arrived in 1839 and for two years were the only residents.
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Scircleville
1875–1980
Hillisburg
1876–1992
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
HillisburgScircleville
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Johnson Township
BaconBakerMerritPlummerPrairie ChapelScottStroup
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From the old history books
What they wrote about Johnson Township in 1886
Passages that mention Johnson Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Clinton County, Indiana. Together with sketches of its cities, villages and towns, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens. Also a condensed hist1886 · page 648Read the page →
Read the text
Johnson Township was organized in March, 1843, and the first election was held the following April at the house of William Burget, who acted as inspector. At this election Mr. Burget was elected to the office of justice of the peace, which office he held for eighteen years. The first trustees were Mathew Orr, Jacob Stroup and John Bristow. Their successors were Lewis Vencill, Geo. A.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Johnson Township, 1875 to 1992
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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 Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
