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BHistory
History · Williamstown

Williamstown’s post office opened in 1822, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 59% of U.S. towns · #70 of 142 in Kentucky. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Hall. Below: maps from 1886 on and the census since 1830.

1822first post office
1on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: W.marsh · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Williamstown began

When was Williamstown founded?

1822

The Williamstown post office opened in 1822, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Cherry Grove (1891), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 197 in 18302020 census: 3,894204 years

How historic is Williamstown?

B

More historic than 59% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Williamstown post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Williamstown’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Williamstown is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #70 of 142 in Kentucky. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Williamstown’s overall grade.
Founding era1822, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194011.6% of homes (±7.3) · typical KY town 5.9% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 2.5 per 10,000 residents · typical KY town 29.9 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 59%
NewerOlder
Kentucky towns of 2,500+ (142)Ahead of 51%

Kentucky towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kentucky town has 29.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Williamstown’s 2.5 sits below most of its state (27% of Kentucky towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Williamstown’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 Williamstown are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1886 to 1916, drew every building in Williamstown.Deep rootsA post office since 1822: 204 years of Williamstown.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Williamstown’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Williamstown’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
Every building

Williamstown, building by building, 1886–1916

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Williamstown fire insurance map, 1886, sheet 11886Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Williamstown, 1822 to 1950

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1822Post officeThe Williamstown post office opens
  3. 1876Born hereDoc Sechrist is born here
  4. 1891Post officeThe Cherry Grove post office opens
  5. 1894Born hereHarry Clay Westover is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1906Post officeThe Cherry Grove post office closes
  8. 1924Born hereArnie Risen is born here
  9. 1938Born hereRoyce Adams is born here
  10. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Williamstown came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Williamstown.

Read it all →

When Grant County was formed in 1820, William Arnold offered land for the county seat. Arnold was a veteran of the Revolutionary War and settled in the area in 1795. The town built there was named after him when it incorporated in 1825.

The county grew slowly, reaching a population of just 281 by 1870. The Cincinnati Southern Railway was built through the county in 1877, and Williamstown Lake was created in 1957. Finally, Interstate 75 was built in the 1960s.

Since 2016, Williamstown is home to Ark Encounter theme park with its newly built Noah's Ark.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Williamstown, decade by decade

Today6 recent
City of2022City ofWilliamstown downtown2013Williamstown downtownGrant County Library2013Grant County LibraryWilliamstown Kentucky Municipal Building2011Williamstown Kentucky Municipal BuildingGrant County Courthouse2008Grant County CourthouseWilliamstown, Kentucky2007Williamstown, Kentucky
On the map

Williamstown on the map, 1950 to 1987

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Williamstown. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Williamstown on the 1950 USGS mapWilliamstown on the 1961 USGS mapWilliamstown on the 1987 USGS map1950Williamstown sheet · 1:24,000

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Williamstown

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
2025
Independent Order of Odd Fellows Hall
Independent Order of Odd Fellows Hall
Buildings
All 1 listings
Independent Order of Odd Fellows HallBuilding · listed 2025

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Williamstown, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0001850190019502000Peak: 3,925

Between 197 and 3,925 people in every census since 1830.

19 censuses, 1830–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Williamstown’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

5 famous people were born in Williamstown

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Arnie RisenAmerican basketball player · b. 1924
D
Doc SechristAmerican baseball player · b. 1876
Harry Clay WestoverUnited States federal judge · b. 1894
R
Royce AdamsAmerican politician · b. 1938
S
Stanley Atwood BolesAmerican college football coach, college basket… · b. 1887
Places that used to be

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

Williamstown’s post office has been open since 1822. Another post office, Cherry Grove, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Williamstown
1822–today
Cherry Grove
1891–1906
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cherry GroveHilltop
Gone or out of use
Cherry Creek Schoolschool
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Williamstown
ClarkClayConradDeyKentucky Veterans Cemetery North

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Dry Ridge1 historic placeB−

Questions about Williamstown’s history

What year was Williamstown founded?

The Williamstown post office opened in 1822, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Williamstown rank for history?

Williamstown is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #70 of 142 in Kentucky. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Williamstown?

One place: the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Hall (listed 2025).

How old are the homes in Williamstown?

12% of Williamstown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Kentucky town; the median home was built in 1972.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.