The Chesterfield Township post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Chesterfield (1837), Oakshade (1874) and Denson (1897), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 938189 years
Founding year: the first Chesterfield Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
What stands out about Chesterfield 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
Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Chesterfield
1837–1869
Oakshade
1874–1910
Denson
1897–1909
Inlet
1897–1903
Thelma
1897–1901
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AdvanceDensonInletOakshade
Gone or out of use
Abbot SchoolschoolClark SchoolschoolDenson Post Officepost officeInlet Post Officepost officeInlet SchoolschoolOakshade Post Officepost officePatterson SchoolschoolPowers SchoolschoolRoss SchoolschoolStites SchoolschoolThelma Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Chesterfield Township
ButlerRoseRose Hill
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Chesterfield Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Chesterfield Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Chesterfield Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Chesterfield Township is one of the twelve townships of Fulton County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 938 people in the township.
Its first post office opened in 1837. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,012 to 938 (-7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Chesterfield Township in 1920
Passages that mention Chesterfield Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A standard history of Fulton County, Ohio, an authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and county1920 · page 271Read the page →
Read the text
The public record of Albert Deyo is one of which the people of Chesterfield Township are proud. He did not come to Chesterfield Township until 1855, but he was nevertheless a pioneer, for he took 160 acres of forest, a short distance west of Denson Station, and “with indomitable will” set himself the task of “carving a home out of the wilderness.” All of the clearing of his land he did not do himself, but as a carpenter he contributed to the upbuilding of the neighborhood. In the early days of the Civil War he served in the militia, in
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A standard history of Fulton County, Ohio, an authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and county1920 · page 277Read the page →
Read the text
Chesterfield Township is without industries, other than agricultural. It is rich dairying territory, and the progressive farmers of the township have a good outlet for their milk product in the large condensing plant just over the line in Michigan. It was at one time an Important cheesetmaking district, one factory alone, In 1887, making in Chesterfield Township, more than one hundred thousand pounds of cheese. Now its milk product chiefly goes in the liquid state.
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
Chesterfield Township, 1837 to 1911
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Chesterfield Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1911Wauseon 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 Chesterfield Township.
Famous people
Famous people close to Chesterfield Township
Nobody well known was born in Chesterfield Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
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 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.
