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History · Benton Township

Half of Benton Township’s homes were built after 1968

Most of Benton Township was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1968. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1910 on.

0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Benton Township’s archive · credits on each photo

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 writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Benton Township, and 4 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19105 editions of the USGS map, 1910 to 2002. Watch Benton Township change.
★ 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
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1937 at Ash Cave: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

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

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

South Bloomingville
1867–today
Cedar Grove
1873–1905
Pursell
1892–1905
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cedar FallsCedar GrovePursellSouth Bloomingville
Gone or out of use
Buchanan SchoolschoolCedar Grove Post Officepost officeDresbach SchoolschoolGreenbrier SchoolschoolOak Grove SchoolschoolPursell Post Officepost office
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Benton Township
JusticeLiberty HillPine GroveSaint John the BaptistSouth BloomingvilleWesley Chapel

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

On the map

Benton Township on the map, 1910 to 2002

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 1910 USGS mapBenton Township on the 1944 USGS mapBenton Township on the 1961 USGS mapBenton Township on the 1990 USGS mapBenton Township on the 2002 USGS map1910Laurelville 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 Benton Township.

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 eleven townships of Hocking County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 780.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 803 to 780 (-3%).

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

Timeline

Benton Township, 1867 to 1937

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1867Post officeThe South Bloomingville post office opens
  3. 1873Post officeThe Cedar Grove post office opens
  4. 1892Post officeThe Pursell post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1905Post officeThe Cedar Grove post office closes
  7. 1905Post officeThe Pursell post office closes
  8. 1910On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1937In the archive1937 at Ash Cave
By decade

Benton Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s1 item
1937 at Ash Cave19371937 at Ash Cave
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today11 recent
Lower Falls III2009Lower Falls IIIBloomingville, (Ohio)2009Bloomingville, (Ohio)A-Frame Bridge2009A-Frame BridgeA-Frame Bridge II2009A-Frame Bridge II20090821-Lower Falls VIII200920090821-Lower Falls VIIIPlan of Benton township, Hocking County, Ohio2009Plan of Benton township, Hocking County, OhioMapHockingHillsOldMansCaveLowerFalls2008HockingHillsOldMansCaveLowerFallsHockingHillsCedarFalls2008HockingHillsCedarFallsHockingHillsAshCave2008HockingHillsAshCaveOHMap-doton-South Bloomingville2007OHMap-doton-South BloomingvilleConkles Hollow2006Conkles Hollow
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.

1937 at Ash Cave
Retake this view1937 at Ash Cave, 1937

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

Retake this view · +15
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 →
Curtis ScaparrottiUnited States Army General · b. 1956
Horatio C. ClaypoolAmerican politician · b. 1859
Archibald LybrandUnion United States Army officer · b. 1840
C
Charles Vernon CulverAmerican politician · b. 1830
D
Dick BatesAmerican baseball player · b. 1945
K
Ken ByersAmerican football player · b. 1940
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Salt Creek TownshipIts storyCLaurel TownshipIts storyCJackson TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSwan TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWashington TownshipIts storyC

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 (12), 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.