Bath Township’s post office opened in 1824, and 26 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns · #318 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of Bath Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. 26 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 20 buildings between them. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1903 on, and old-book passages.
From Bath Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Bath Township began
When was Bath Township founded?
1824
The Bath Township post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Montrose (1849) and Ghent (1858), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 10,024202 years
How historic is Bath Township?
A−
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Bath Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Bath Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bath Township is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #318 of 993 in Ohio. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bath 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 Bath Township’s 51.0 sits above most of its state (89% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 51 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% 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 (±3.9 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 Bath Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Bath
1824–today
Montrose
1849–1911
Ghent
1858–1918
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BathBath CenterGhentOsborn Corners
Gone or out of use
Ghent Post Officepost office
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bath Township
Bath CenterEast BathIraMorris Chapel
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Bath Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bath Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Bath is an unincorporated community in the northern part of Bath Township, Summit County, Ohio, United States. It is centered at the intersection of Cleveland-Massillon and Ira roads. It was developed 'circa 1820. A post office called Bath has been in operation since 1824. A variant name was "Hammond's Corners", for Jason Hammond, an early settler. Jeffrey Dahmer's family moved here in 1968, the house went up for sale in 2012.
Its first post office opened in 1824. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 9,702 to 10,024 (+3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Bath Township, 1881–1908
Passages that mention Bath Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Summit County, Ohio1881 · page 274Read the page →
Read the text
same office in Tallmadge Township in 1310. in a small log shanty that stood south of the center. Rachel Hammond. in 1811. taught the first school in Bath Township. in a house belonging to Aaron Miller. and Lois Ann Gear taught the first in Boston Township. in the summer of the same year; in 1817, Joseph Mishler taught the first school in Franklin
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio1881 · page 264Read the page →
Read the text
same office in Tallmadge Township in 1810, in a small log shanty that stood south of the center. Rachel Hammond, in 1811, taught the first school in Bath Township, in a house belonging to Aaron Miller, and Lois Ann Gear taught the first in Boston Township, in the summer of the same 3'ear ; in 1817, Joseph Mishler taught the first school in Franklin
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Summit County, Ohio1881 · page 750Read the page →
Read the text
he came to Ohio in company with his cousin, John A. Nash ; he settled in Richfield Township, where he was burned out, after which he moved to Bath Township, of which locality he was one of the pioneers; he lived in Bath Township, except a few years in his native State, until the fall of 1880. when he retired to Akron, where he now lives. Our subject lived
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Centennial history of Summit County, Ohio1908 · page 538Read the page →
Read the text
When James Albert Smith was an infant, his father moved first to Bath Township, purchasing a farm of ninety-four acres, in its eastern part, on which the family lived for a short time and then went back to Springfield Township. James Albert was twelve years old when his father returned to Bath Township and settled on the farm he now owns,
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
Bath Township, 1824 to 1918
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bath Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1903Akron 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 Bath Township.
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.
Retake this viewHopkins House (Entrance), Route 21
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bath Township’s page.
The Bath Township post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Bath Township rank for history?
Bath Township is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #318 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 Bath Township?
26 listings: 23 buildings, among them the Jonathan Hale Homestead (listed 1973, the first), and 3 historic districts, the Edward Cranz Farm, the William and Eugene Cranz Farm and the Ghent Historic District, with 20 contributing buildings. 51 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Bath Township?
8% of Bath Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (26), 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.
Date?
