Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Belpre Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
B+History
History · Belpre Township

Belpre Township dates to 1789, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 75% of U.S. towns · #370 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Walter Curtis House and the Sawyer-Curtis House. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1870.

1789founded
2on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Belpre Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Belpre Township began, and where its name came from

When was Belpre Township founded?

1789

Belpre Township dates its founding to 1789 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 911 in 18702020 census: 3,897237 years

How did Belpre Township get its name?

Belpre Township’s name derives from "Belle Prairie" (French for "beautiful meadow"), the name given to the valley by French trappers prior to the first American settlement at the site.

How historic is Belpre Township?

B+

More historic than 75% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1824. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Belpre Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Belpre Township is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #370 of 993 in Ohio. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Belpre Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1789, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194011.3% of homes (±6.7) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register2 listings, 3 historic buildings, 7.8 per 10,000 residents · typical OH town 2.9 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 75%
NewerOlder
Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 63%

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 Belpre Township’s 7.8 sits above most of its state (71% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1789.
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 (±6.7 points).

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Belpre Township’s past

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

Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Belpre Township, and 5 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19044 editions of the USGS map, 1904 to 1994. Watch Belpre Township change.Deep rootsEstablished in 1789: 237 years of Belpre Township.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Little Hockhocking
1824–1879
Center Belpre
1837–1959
Little Hocking
1879–today
Armenia
1887–1915
Corner
1890–1902
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ArmeniaCornerLittle HockingPorterfieldRedbush
Gone or out of use
Atlas PitmineNewberry Schoolschool
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Belpre Township
CedarvilleCornerLittle HockingNewberryRocklandSaint Marys

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Belpre Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Belpre Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewFarmersCastle: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Belpre Township on the map, 1904 to 1994

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

Belpre Township on the 1904 USGS mapBelpre Township on the 1961 USGS mapBelpre Township on the 1971 USGS mapBelpre Township on the 1994 USGS map1904Parkersburg 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 Belpre Township.

The story

How Belpre Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Belpre Township.

Read it all →

The first settlement at Belpre was made in 1788. In 1845 railroad developers founded the Belpre and Cincinnati Railroad, but the destination was changed to Marietta, with a corresponding name change in 1851. For a considerable period of time, travelers had to go by steamboat to connect between Marietta and Parkersburg, Virginia; the latter received service from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1857. This was shortly before the western part of Virginia seceded in 1861 after the start of the American Civil War to form Unionist West Virginia. Belpre and Marietta were later connected by rail. Coal service is still active on this line.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Belpre Township, 1789 to 1959

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1789
    FoundingBelpre Township is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1824Post officeThe Little Hockhocking post office opens
  5. 1837Post officeThe Center Belpre post office opens
  6. 1879Post officeThe Little Hockhocking post office closes
  7. 1879Post officeThe Little Hocking post office opens
  8. 20th century
  9. 1904On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1959Post officeThe Center Belpre post office closes
By decade

Belpre Township, decade by decade

Date unknown2 to date
A history ofDate?A history ofBookFarmersCastleDate?FarmersCastle
Today2 recent
Rainbow over Washington Boulevard in Belpre, Ohio, 2026-07-042026Rainbow over Washington Boulevard in Belpre, Ohio, 20…Rainbow over Washington Boulevard at Maple Street · Belpre, Ohio · 2026-07-042026Rainbow over Washington Boulevard at Maple Street · B…
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.

FarmersCastle
Retake this viewFarmersCastle

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Belpre Township

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Walter Curtis House
Walter Curtis HouseSawyer-Curtis House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Italianate1
Walter Curtis HouseGreek Revival
Sawyer-Curtis HouseItalianate

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

People over time

Belpre Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 7,193

Between 901 and 7,193 people in every census since 1870.

15 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Belpre3 historic placesA−Dunham TownshipIts storyC−Decatur Township1 historic placeB−Troy TownshipIts storyB−

Questions about Belpre Township’s history

What year was Belpre Township founded?

In 1789, according to Wikidata. Belpre Township’s post office opened in 1824, and the census of 1870 counted 911 people here.

How does Belpre Township rank for history?

Belpre Township is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #370 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 Belpre Township?

Two places: the Walter Curtis House (listed 1980) and the Sawyer-Curtis House (1984).

How old are the homes in Belpre Township?

11% of Belpre Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1980.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) 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.