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History · Ashtabula Township

Ashtabula Township dates to 1803, and 43% of its homes were built before 1940

9 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1830.

1803founded
9on the National Register
43%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ashtabula Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Ashtabula Township began

When was Ashtabula Township founded?

1803

Ashtabula Township dates its founding to 1803 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1830.

First census: 229 in 18302020 census: 19,585223 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1806.The full story ↓

What stands out about Ashtabula Township’s past

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

Lost villages9 hamlets and corners are still on the map.Boom and bustPeaked at 24,559 in 1960; 17,975 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19053 editions of the USGS map, 1905 to 1970. Watch Ashtabula Township change.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
AvondaleCrestlawn VillageEdgewoodEdgewood Trailer ParkKeyes Trailer ParkMobile AcresOakwood Mobile Home ParkState Road Mobile Home ParkTaylor Mobile Home Park
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ashtabula Township
Chestnut GroveEdgewoodRidgeview Burial Park

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

People over time

Ashtabula Township, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,0001850190019502000Peak: 24,559

Peaked at 24,559 in 1960; 17,975 people lived here in 2020.

20 censuses, 1830–2020.

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

On the map

Ashtabula Township on the map, 1905 to 1970

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

Ashtabula Township on the 1905 USGS mapAshtabula Township on the 1960 USGS mapAshtabula Township on the 1970 USGS map1905Ashtabula 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 Ashtabula Township.

The story

How Ashtabula Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ashtabula Township.

Read it all →

This area had long been inhabited by indigenous peoples. After the American Revolutionary War, the United States mounted the Northwest Indian War to push Native American peoples out of what it then called the Northwest - the area of the Midwest south of the Great Lakes and west of the Appalachian Mountains. The success of this military effort resulted in more European Americans entering Ohio and nearby territories.

ChaptersTragedies

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Ashtabula Township in 1924

Passages that mention Ashtabula Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.

and South Ridge roads. The class members held their meetings in homes and schoolhouse until 1822, when, with the aid of the friendly neighbors, they erected, near the Benham homes, a meeting house of hewn logs, which was the first house built solely for public worship in Ashtabula Township. In 1830…
History of Ashtabula County Ohio1924 · page 171Read the page →
Read the text

and South Ridge roads. The class members held their meetings in homes and schoolhouse until 1822, when, with the aid of the friendly neighbors, they erected, near the Benham homes, a meeting house of hewn logs, which was the first house built solely for public worship in Ashtabula Township. In 1830 the society built their present chapel on the west bank of the Ashtabula, in the borough, and finished it in 1836.”

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

Ashtabula Township, 1803 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1803
    FoundingAshtabula Township is established
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900In the archiveHarbor entrance
  5. 1905On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 24,559
By decade

Ashtabula Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s12 items
Harbor entrance1900Harbor entranceCoal dumping machine1900Coal dumping machineFueling lighter with clam shell hoist1900Fueling lighter with clam shell hoistL.S. & M.S. [Lake Shore & Michigan Southern] Ry. ore docks1900L.S. & M.S. [Lake Shore & Michigan Southern] Ry. ore …Car dumping machine1900Car dumping machineUnloading ore at L.S. & M.S. [Lake Shore & Michigan Southern] Ry. Co.'s docks1900Unloading ore at L.S. & M.S. [Lake Shore & Michigan S…Ore at L.S. & M.S. [Lake Shore and Michigan Southern] Ry. docks1901Ore at L.S. & M.S. [Lake Shore and Michigan Southern]…Looking down the Ashtabula River1905Looking down the Ashtabula RiverNorth Park scene1905North Park sceneNew High School1905New High SchoolPoint Park and Harbor1905Point Park and HarborA scene in the Canyon1905A scene in the Canyon
1910s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
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.

Harbor entrance
Retake this viewHarbor entrance, 1900

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Ashtabula Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

9 listings protect 71 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
9
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
71
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
Francis E. Harmon House
Francis E. Harmon House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Italian Villa1
Francis E. Harmon HouseItalian Villa

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

Help out

Finish Ashtabula Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHarbor entrance: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Plymouth Township1 historic placeA−Edgewood1 historic placeB+Ashtabula9 historic placesA+Saybrook TownshipIts storyB−Kingsville TownshipIts storyB+

Questions about Ashtabula Township’s history

What year was Ashtabula Township founded?

In 1803, according to Wikidata. Ashtabula Township’s post office opened in 1806, and the census of 1830 counted 229 people here.

What is on the National Register in Ashtabula Township?

9 listings: 1 building, among them the Francis E. Harmon House (listed 1975, the first). 71 historic buildings in all.

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 the Library of Congress (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.