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History · Athens Township

12% of Athens Township’s homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 12 old photos and papers and maps from 1903 on.

1on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Athens Township’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Athens Township’s past

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

On the map since 19034 editions of the USGS map, 1903 to 1994. Watch Athens Township change.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1905–1942.
★ What stands out · On the map

Athens Township on the map, 1903 to 1994

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

Athens Township on the 1903 USGS mapAthens Township on the 1961 USGS mapAthens Township on the 1978 USGS mapAthens Township on the 1994 USGS map1903Flushing 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 Athens Township.

By decade

Athens Township, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s5 items
Ewing Hall, Ohio University1905Ewing Hall, Ohio UniversityNormal College, Ohio University1905Normal College, Ohio UniversitySoldiers Monument1905Soldiers MonumentThe Falls, State Insane Hospital1905The Falls, State Insane HospitalAdministration Building, State Insane Hospital1905Administration Building, State Insane Hospital
1910s–1940s7 items
View1912ViewOhio University1914Ohio UniversityAthens, Ohio. H.D. Palmer, executive director of the civilian defense council, addressing a meeting of the utilities di…1941Athens, Ohio. H.D. Palmer, executive director of the …Untitled photo, possibly related to: Athens, Ohio. H.D. Palmer, executive director of the civilian defense council, add…1941Untitled photo, possibly related to: Athens, Ohio. H.…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Athens, Ohio. H.D. Palmer, executive director of the civilian defense council, add…1941Untitled photo, possibly related to: Athens, Ohio. H.…Athens, Ohio. USMC (United States Marine Corps) recruiting office1942Athens, Ohio. USMC (United States Marine Corps) recru…Athens, Ohio. Mayor Franz Woodworth addressing a meeting of the utilities division of the Athens civilian defense counc…1942Athens, Ohio. Mayor Franz Woodworth addressing a meet…
1950s–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
The story so far

Athens Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Athens Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Athens Township is one of the fifteen townships of Harrison County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 390.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 505 to 390 (-23%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Athens Township, 1903 to 1941

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1903On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1905In the archiveEwing Hall, Ohio University
  4. 1912In the archiveView
  5. 1941In the archiveAthens, Ohio. H.D. Palmer, executive director of the civilian defense council, addressing…
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.

Ewing Hall, Ohio University
Retake this viewEwing Hall, Ohio University, 1905

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Athens Township

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Athens Township

Nobody well known was born in Athens Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Clark GableAmerican actor · b. 1901
William SharonAmerican politician · b. 1821
David P. ThompsonAmerican politician · b. 1834
Mary MauriceAmerican actress · b. 1844
Robert CrozierAmerican politician · b. 1827
Thomas TiptonAmerican politician · b. 1817
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Decorte Number 2 MinemineDickerson Number 10 MinemineFranklin Number 125 MinemineFranklin Number 65 MinemineMcCoy Minemine
1cemetery inside Athens Township
Longview

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

Help out

Finish Athens 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
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewEwing Hall, Ohio University: 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.

Cadiz Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townShort Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMoorefield TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWheeling TownshipIts storyB+

Questions about Athens Township’s history

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), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.