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History · Adena

Adena’s post office opened in 1854, and 42% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Ann E. Lewis Bernhard House. Its Register listing is the Ann E. Lewis Bernhard House. Below: maps from 1905 on and the census since 1880.

1854first post office
1on the National Register
42%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Adena began

When was Adena founded?

1854

The Adena post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 45 in 18802020 census: 664172 years
Founding year: the first Adena post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Adena’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 Adena are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,703 in 1940; 664 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19054 editions of the USGS map, 1905 to 1984. Watch Adena change.Old housesHalf of Adena’s homes were built before 1944.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Adena’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Adena’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
People over time

Adena, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,80018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,703

Peaked at 1,703 in 1940; 664 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

On the map

Adena on the map, 1905 to 1984

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

Adena on the 1905 USGS mapAdena on the 1960 USGS mapAdena on the 1972 USGS mapAdena on the 1984 USGS map1905St Clairsville 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 Adena.

The story

How Adena came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Adena.

Read it all →

When the village was being established, Ohio General Assembly member John McLaughlin (1803-1816) suggested to name it after Adena Mansion, then Governor Thomas Worthington's home and estate in Chillicothe, Ohio. A post office called Adena was established in 1855 with Peter Hixon as the first Postmaster, although there was no mail route yet at the time. After a mail route was established, John Bendell was appointed as the first acting Postmaster. The post office is still in operation.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Adena, 1854 to 1941

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1854Post officeThe Adena post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1905On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1913Born hereJim Moscrip is born here
  6. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 1,703
  7. 1941Born hereJerry W. Krupinski is born here
By decade

Adena, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Ann E. Lewis Bernhard House 2012-07-132012Ann E. Lewis Bernhard House 2012-07-13
On the National Register

1 historic place in Adena

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
2005
Ann E. Lewis Bernhard House
Ann E. Lewis Bernhard House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Queen Anne1
Eastlake1
Ann E. Lewis Bernhard HouseQueen Anne

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Adena

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

See all →
J
Jerry W. KrupinskiAmerican politician · b. 1941
J
Jim MoscripAmerican football player · b. 1913
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Adena’s post office has been open since 1854.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Hagan Addition
1cemetery inside Adena
Adena Presbyterian

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

Questions about Adena’s history

What year was Adena founded?

The Adena post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Adena?

One place: the Ann E. Lewis Bernhard House (listed 2005).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikidata (1), 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) 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.