The story
Read it all →How Waterloo Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Waterloo Township.
The Thomas Ranck Round Barn was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Ranck, Thomas, Round Barn · Photo: Jack Boucher · Public domain–Not graded
History · Waterloo Township
Waterloo Township’s post office opened in 1825, and 42% of its homes were built before 1940
Its Register listing is the Ranck, Thomas, Round Barn. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1956 on.
1825first post office
1on the National Register
42%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Quick answers
How Waterloo Township began
When was Waterloo Township founded?
1825
The Waterloo Township post office opened in 1825, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Waterloo (1825) and Springersville (1840), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 531201 years
Founding year: the first Waterloo Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Waterloo 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 writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Waterloo Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1825: 201 years of Waterloo Township.Old housesHalf of Waterloo Township’s homes were built before 1961.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Waterloo Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Waterloo Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Waterloo
Springersville
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
SpringersvilleWaterloo
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Waterloo Township
GreenRobinson ChapelSpringersville
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Waterloo Township, 1825 to 1956
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Waterloo Township, decade by decade
Date unknown1 to date
Date?On the map
Waterloo Township on the map, 1956 to 1972
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Waterloo Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1956Brownsville sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Waterloo Township.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewRanck Round Barn, Fayette-Wayne County Line Road
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Waterloo Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
1 historic place in Waterloo Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
Ranck, Thomas, Round Barn
Buildings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Waterloo Township
Nobody well known was born in Waterloo Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
L
Larry CrockettRacecar driver · b. 1926
G
Grace Julian ClarkeSuffragist from Indiana · b. 1865
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Waterloo Township’s history
What year was Waterloo Township founded?
The Waterloo Township post office opened in 1825, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What is on the National Register in Waterloo Township?
One place: the Ranck, Thomas, Round Barn (listed 1983).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
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 the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.