The Blue Rock Township post office opened in 1829, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Gays Port (1839), Ruraldale (1852) and Gaysport (1888), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 622197 years
Founding year: the first Blue Rock Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
What stands out about Blue Rock Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Blue Rock
1829–today
Gays Port
1839–1841
Ruraldale
1852–1902
Gaysport
1888–1926
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Blue RockConfederate CrossroadsGaysportRuraldale
Gone or out of use
Bethlehem SchoolschoolGaysport Post Officepost officeQuailtrap SchoolschoolRuraldale Post Officepost officeSmith SchoolschoolToadtown Schoolschool
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Blue Rock Township
AllensBethlehemBlue Rock BaptistGaysportRuraldaleStone Church
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Blue Rock Township on the map, 1910 to 1994
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Blue Rock Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1910Philo 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 Blue Rock Township.
The story so far
Blue Rock Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Blue Rock Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Blue Rock is an unincorporated community in western Blue Rock Township, Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. The community is served by the Franklin Local School District. Blue Rock State Park is located near the community and is a notable recreational area in the region. Although Blue Rock is unincorporated, it uses the ZIP Code 43720 through the post office located in the nearby unincorporated community of Gaysport. Gaysport is situated along the Muskingum River near the junction of State Route 60 and State Route 376.
Its first post office opened in 1829. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 677 to 622 (-8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Blue Rock Township, 1829 to 1910
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
