The Atwater Township post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Atwater Center (1873), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 2,564202 years
How historic is Atwater Township?
A−
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Atwater Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Atwater Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Atwater Township is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #242 of 993 in Ohio. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Atwater Township’s overall grade.
Ohio towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Ohio town has 2.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Atwater Township’s 3.9 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Ohio 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 B+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.4 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 Atwater Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Atwater Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1906Ravenna 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 Atwater Township.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, Atwater Center, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Atwater
1824–today
Atwater Center
1873–1901
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AtwaterAtwater CenterCountrywide Estates
Gone or out of use
Gay Airportairport
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Atwater Township
AtwaterOld German
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Atwater Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Atwater Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Atwater Township is one of the eighteen townships of Portage County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 census there were 2,564 people living in the township.
Its first post office opened in 1824. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,740 to 2,564 (-6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Atwater Township in 1885
Passages that mention Atwater Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Portage County, Ohio1885 · page 251Read the page →
Read the text
the southeast corner of Ravenna Township, and the same fall planted the ground in wheat. William Chard and Conrad Boosinger, both of whom settled in Tappan's neighborhood, also planted small fields of the latter cereal in the fall of 1800. Asa Hall made the first clearing in Atwater Township early in 1800, and put in some corn, which was succeeded the next fall by wheat. In 1801 or 1802 David Baldwin raised a corn and wheat crop in Atwater Township.
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
Atwater Township, 1824 to 1906
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Atwater Township post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Atwater Township rank for history?
Atwater Township is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #242 of 993 in Ohio. 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 Atwater Township?
One place: the Atwater Congregational Church (listed 1973).
How old are the homes in Atwater Township?
30% of Atwater Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.4 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1965.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), 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.
