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Burton Ohio May 2015 06Photo: Djembayz · CC BY-SA 4.0
AHistory
History · Burton Township

Burton Township dates to 1798, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 93% of U.S. towns · #101 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it

3 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1905 on and the census since 1880.

1798founded
3on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Djembayz · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Burton Township began

When was Burton Township founded?

1798

Burton Township dates its founding to 1798 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 480 in 18802020 census: 4,379228 years

How historic is Burton Township?

A

More historic than 93% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1811.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Burton Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Burton Township is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #101 of 993 in Ohio. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Burton Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1798, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194029.8% of homes (±7.4) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register3 listings, 17 historic buildings, 38.8 per 10,000 residents · typical OH town 2.9 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 93%
NewerOlder
Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 90%

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 Burton Township’s 38.8 sits above most of its state (86% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 17 historic buildings outnumber those of 79% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.4 points). Two sources give 1798.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). 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 Burton 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 Burton Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19054 editions of the USGS map, 1905 to 1994. Watch Burton Township change.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Burton Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsEstablished in 1798: 228 years of Burton Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Burton Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Burton 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
On the map

Burton Township on the map, 1905 to 1994

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

Burton Township on the 1905 USGS mapBurton Township on the 1953 USGS mapBurton Township on the 1966 USGS mapBurton Township on the 1994 USGS map1905Garrettsville 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 Burton Township.

Places that used to be

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

Another post office, Burton Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Burton LakeBurton StationDeer Lake Mobile Park
Gone or out of use
Burton Station Post Officepost officeHosmer Airfieldairport
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Burton Township
LowerPleasant HillSlitor

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

The story

How Burton Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Burton Township.

Read it all →

Burton was founded in 1798 and is Geauga County's oldest settlement. Like many other early settlements in the Connecticut Western Reserve, Burton has a town square patterned after the village greens of New England.

In 1972, an incident in Burton lead to a U.S. Supreme Court case. Hugo Zacchini performed a human cannonball act at Burton's annual Geauga County Fair, and WEWS-TV recorded and aired the entire act against his wishes and without compensating him, as was required by Ohio law. In Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co., the high court ruled in 1977 that the First Amendment did not shield the broadcaster from liability from common law copyright claims.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Burton Township, 1798 to 1938

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1798
    FoundingBurton Township is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1874Post officeThe Burton Station post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1905On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1938Post officeThe Burton Station post office closes
By decade

Burton Township, decade by decade

Today12 recent
Burton, Ohio2014Burton, OhioBurton, Ohio2014Burton, OhioBurton, Ohio2014Burton, OhioBurton, Ohio2014Burton, OhioBurton, Ohio2014Burton, OhioBurton, Ohio2014Burton, OhioBurton, Ohio2014Burton, OhioBurton, Ohio2014Burton, OhioBurton, Ohio2014Burton, OhioBurton, Ohio2014Burton, OhioCannon fire in2011Cannon fire inOHMap-doton-Burton2004OHMap-doton-Burton
On the National Register

3 listings protect 17 historic buildings

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
17
each building in a district counts

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

People over time

Burton Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,60018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,452

Between 480 and 1,452 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Burton Township’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Claridon Township2 historic placesANewbury Township1 historic placeB+Middlefield1 historic placeA−Middlefield TownshipIts storyB−Troy Township1 historic placeA−

Questions about Burton Township’s history

What year was Burton Township founded?

In 1798, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Burton Township’s post office opened in 1811, and the census of 1880 counted 480 people here.

How does Burton Township rank for history?

Burton Township is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #101 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 Burton Township?

30% of Burton Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.4 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1959.

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 (12), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.