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History · Bethel Township

Half of Bethel Township’s homes were built after 1980

Most of Bethel Township was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: maps from 1960 on.

0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Bethel 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 Bethel Township, and 6 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Bethel Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ 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.

Masterton
1845–1908
Sycamore Valley
1878–today
Marr
1880–1961
Quarry
1880–1912
Crosskeys
1893–1914
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cross KeysLebanonMarrQuarrySpragueSycamore Valley
Gone or out of use
Crosskeys Post Officepost officeMarr Post Officepost officeQuarry Post Officepost office
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bethel Township
Creighton RidgeHersheyHopewellLibertyMastertonMcVayMount Hope

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

Help out

Start Bethel Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bethel 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
The story so far

Bethel Township, in brief

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

Bethel Township is one of the eighteen townships of Monroe County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 271.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 347 to 271 (-22%).

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

Timeline

Bethel Township, 1845 to 1961

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1845Post officeThe Masterton post office opens
  3. 1878Post officeThe Sycamore Valley post office opens
  4. 1880Post officeThe Marr post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1908Post officeThe Masterton post office closes
  7. 1960On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1961Post officeThe Marr post office closes
By decade

Bethel Township, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Map of Monroe County Ohio Highlighting2015Map of Monroe County Ohio HighlightingMapOHMap-doton-Sycamore Valley2007OHMap-doton-Sycamore Valley
On the map

Bethel Township on the map, 1960 to 2002

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

Bethel Township on the 1960 USGS mapBethel Township on the 1972 USGS mapBethel Township on the 1994 USGS mapBethel Township on the 2002 USGS map1960Graysville 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 Bethel Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Bethel Township

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

See all →
William Gladstone SteelCrater Lake promoter and mail carrier · b. 1854
Sad Sam JonesAmerican baseball player · b. 1892
Sophie Naylor GrubbAmerican activist, writer · b. 1834
Donald GwinnAmerican hammer thrower · b. 1902
John W. OkeyOhio Jurist · b. 1827
James M. TuttleUnited States Army general during American Civi… · b. 1823
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Franklin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townElk Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWashington Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLiberty TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLudlow Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bethel Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 (2), 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.