The story
Read it all →How Bratton Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Bratton Township.
Bratton Township was organized in 1877. It is named for John Bratton, an early and prominent settler.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B+History
History · Bratton Township
17% of Bratton Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them the Serpent Mound, a National Historic Landmark. Below: maps from 1915 on and old-book passages.
1on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
About Bratton Township’s history
How historic is Bratton Township?
B+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Bratton Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bratton Township is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bratton Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194017.3% of homes (±9.7) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register1 listing, 7.3 per 10,000 residents · typical OH town 2.9 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 71%
NewerOlder
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 Bratton Township’s 7.3 sits above most of its state (70% 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 (±9.7 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 Bratton 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 Bratton Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Bratton Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.A National Historic Landmark1 place on the National Register, including Serpent Mound, a National Historic Landmark.On the map since 19153 editions of the USGS map, 1915 to 1974. Watch Bratton Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Bratton Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bratton Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.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.
London Grove
Lovett
Marble Furnace
Gustin
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
LoudenLouisvilleMarble Furnace
Gone or out of use
Andrews SchoolschoolCuckoo SchoolschoolMarble Furnace Post Officepost officeMay Hill SchoolschoolWillow Grove Schoolschool
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bratton Township
KelleyLoudonLouisvilleMarble FurnaceMay Hill
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the National Register
1 historic place in Bratton Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmark
1
Serpent Mound
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1966
Serpent Mound
Sites★ landmark
All 1 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Bratton Township in 1900
Passages that mention Bratton Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of Adams County, Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present time, including character sketches of the prominent persons identified with the first century of the country's growth ..1900 · page 458Read the page →
Read the text
May Hill — 'This is not a regularly laid out village, but like Tranquility grew up round a country store. It is located in the northeastern portion of the township on the border of Bratton Township, on high rolling land, and is surrounded by a poor hilly country. A postoffice was established there in 1850 with John A. Williamson as postmaster.
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
Bratton Township, 1846 to 1964
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1846Post officeThe London Grove post office opens
- 1847Post officeThe London Grove post office closes
- 1847Post officeThe Lovett post office opens
- 1848Post officeThe Marble Furnace post office opens
- 1879Post officeThe Marble Furnace post office closes
- 20th century
- 1907Post officeThe Lovett post office closes
- 1915
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1964LandmarkSerpent Mound named a National Historic Landmark
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the map
Bratton Township on the map, 1915 to 1974
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bratton Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1915Bainbridge sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bratton Township.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Bratton Township
Nobody well known was born in Bratton Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Bratton Township’s history
How does Bratton Township rank for history?
Bratton Township is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns. 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.
What is on the National Register in Bratton Township?
One place: the Serpent Mound (listed 1966).
How old are the homes in Bratton Township?
17% of Bratton Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.7 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1986.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.