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A−History
History · Bloom Township

24% of Bloom Township’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 77% of U.S. towns · #352 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it

Its Register listing is . Below: maps from 1912 on and old-book passages.

1on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers

About Bloom Township’s history

How historic is Bloom Township?

A−

More historic than 77% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Bloom Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bloom Township is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #352 of 993 in Ohio. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bloom Township’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 77%
NewerOlder
Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 65%

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 Bloom Township’s 3.7 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.5 points).

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 →

What stands out about Bloom Township’s past

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

★ What stands out · Places that used to be

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

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

Lilly
1856–1910
Hales Creek
1858–1918
Scioto Furnace
1862–today
Bloom Switch
1870–1918
Eifort
1883–1952
Pinkerman
1884–1904
Madland
1892–1913
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Ashley CornerBloom JunctionEdmunds SwitchEifortFrederickGephartHales CreekMadlandPinkermanScioto Furnace
Gone or out of use
Bloom FurnacelocaleEdmunds SchoolschoolEifort Post Officepost officeFisher SchoolschoolGlobe SwitchlocaleHales Creek Post Officepost officeHope SchoolschoolJackson Furnace SchoolschoolKettle SchoolschoolMadland Post Officepost officePinkerman Post Officepost officeWhite Bear Schoolschool
11cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bloom Township
Bloom FurnaceBloom SwitchBradyBrantJenkinsJohnsonPinkerman United BrethrenScioto FurnaceSouth WebsterSouth WebsterStidham

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

Help out

Start Bloom Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
On the map

Bloom Township on the map, 1912 to 2002

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

Bloom Township on the 1912 USGS mapBloom Township on the 1961 USGS mapBloom Township on the 1975 USGS mapBloom Township on the 2002 USGS map1912Oak Hill 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 Bloom Township.

The story so far

Bloom Township, in brief

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

Bloom Township is one of the sixteen townships of Scioto County, Ohio, United States. The population at the 2020 census was 2,714.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 3,235 to 2,714 (-16%).

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Bloom Township in 1903

Passages that mention Bloom Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Bloom Furnace located in the northwestern part of Bloom Township was built in 1830 by Christian Benner and two sons, Joshua and John. It was operated by different parties till 1874, when it went out of blast. In 1879, J. H. Simmons and Oliver Lyons bought the property and started the furnace.
history of scioto county, ohio, together with a pioneer record of southern ohio1903 · page 358Read the page →
Read the text

Bloom Furnace located in the northwestern part of Bloom Township was built in 1830 by Christian Benner and two sons, Joshua and John. It was operated by different parties till 1874, when it went out of blast. In 1879, J. H. Simmons and Oliver Lyons bought the property and started the furnace.

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.

Timeline

Bloom Township, 1856 to 1918

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1856Post officeThe Lilly post office opens
  3. 1858Post officeThe Hales Creek post office opens
  4. 1862Post officeThe Scioto Furnace post office opens
  5. 1877Born hereEdward Oscar McCowen is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1910Post officeThe Lilly post office closes
  8. 1912On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1918Post officeThe Hales Creek post office closes
By decade

Bloom Township, decade by decade

On the National Register

1 historic place in Bloom Township

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Questions about Bloom Township’s history

How does Bloom Township rank for history?

Bloom Township is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #352 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.

How old are the homes in Bloom Township?

24% of Bloom Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.5 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1976.

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 (2), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.