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History · Benton Township

21% of Benton Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1960 on.

0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Nyttend · Public domain

What stands out about Benton Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Benton Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Benton Township, and 6 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Benton Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

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

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

McGill
1856–1913
Batson
1891–1911
Sophia
1893–1895
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BaldwinBatsonLogtownMcGillSmileySophia
Gone or out of use
Batson Post Officepost officeBluejay SchoolschoolBoyer SchoolschoolBrady AirportairportBrady SchoolschoolCenter SchoolschoolDill SchoolschoolLehman SchoolschoolLogtown SchoolschoolMcGill Post Officepost officeRodenbaugh SchoolschoolSmiley SchoolschoolSophia Post Officepost officeSwamp CollegeschoolWalnut Grove Grangebuilding
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Benton Township
DealeyLehmanSaint Johns Catholic

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

The story so far

Benton Township, in brief

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

Benton Township is one of the twelve townships of Paulding County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 1,019 people in the township.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,046 to 1,019 (-3%).

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

Timeline

Benton Township, 1856 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1856Post officeThe McGill post office opens
  3. 1891Post officeThe Batson post office opens
  4. 1893Post officeThe Sophia post office opens
  5. 1895Post officeThe Sophia post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1911Post officeThe Batson post office closes
  8. 1913Post officeThe McGill post office closes
  9. 1960On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Benton Township, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Benton Township windmills and corn stubble2015Benton Township windmills and corn stubbleMap of Paulding County Ohio Highlighting Benton Township2015Map of Paulding County Ohio Highlighting Benton Towns…MapBenton Paulding2006Benton Paulding
On the map

Benton Township on the map, 1960 to 1986

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

Benton Township on the 1960 USGS mapBenton Township on the 1973 USGS mapBenton Township on the 1986 USGS map1960Payne sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Benton Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Benton Township

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

See all →
John S. SnookAmerican politician · b. 1862
Lucy Fitch PerkinsAmerican children's book illustrator and writer · b. 1865
Jane E. HenneyAmerican physician; first woman to be named com… · b. 1947
P
Paul PurmanSportswriter · b. 1886
H
Harley HisnerAmerican baseball player · b. 1926
V
Vance KirklandArtist · b. 1904
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Harrison TownshipIts storyB+Tully Township1 historic placeB+Blue Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Benton 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 Wikimedia Commons (3), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.