Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 19% of U.S. towns · #922 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of Bath Township was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1906 on, and the census since 1880.
More historic than 19% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bath Township is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #922 of 993 in Ohio. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bath Township’s history is told.
Another post office, Blue Lick, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bath Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
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.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bath Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Bath Township is one of the twelve townships of Allen County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 9,399 people in the unincorporated parts of the township, outside the city of Lima.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 9,725 to 9,399 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Bath Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
In the following list mention is made of the early grist and saw-mills: The Crawford Mill in Bath Township was constructed in 1830. It resembled a large coffee-mill, and was worked in a similar manner — the customers having to aid in turning it. In 1830 the Sugar Creek Gristmill was constmcted by Samuel Burch. Two years after the McClure horse-mill was put in operation; in the fall of 1832, the Joseph Ward Mill was erected on Sugar Creek. The same buhrs used in the McClure Mill were also brought to the Ward Mill when the supply of water war-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In the following list mention is made of the early grist and saw-mills: The Crawford Mill in Bath Township was constructed in 1830. It resembled a large coffee-mill, and was worked in a similar manner—the customers having to aid in turning it. In 1830 the Sugar Creek Gristmill was constructed by Samuel Burch. Two years after the McClure horse-mill was put in operation; in the fall of 1832, the Joseph Ward Mil! was erected on Sugar Creek. The same buhrs used in the McClure Mill were also brought to the Ward Mill when the supply of water war-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The settlement of the McUluer family on Section 28, Bath Township, in 1825, and of the Wood family on Sugar Creek, the year before, are noticed in this chapter. Here they resided until June, 1826, each settlement ignorant of the existence of the other. According to statements made by Nathaniel McCluer, three whitemen, Morgan Lippincott, Joseph Wood and Benjamin Dolph, came tw his father’s cabin in June, 1826. They had left their homes to hunt along the deer-lick, where Lima now stands; but while engaged in watching for game, they beheld a panther watching
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Joseph Higgs settled in Bath Township previous to 1832, and erected the first saw-mill on Sugar Creek that year. Martin Hire settled in Allen County in 1824.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyNo then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bath Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 1,448 and 9,819 people in every census since 1880.
5 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bath Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Bath Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Bath Township is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #922 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.
6% of Bath Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1975.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikimedia Commons (3), the Library of Congress (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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?
2015
2015
2006
