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Clay Township, Montgomery County, OhioPhoto: Nyttend · Public domain
A−History
History · Clay Township

20% of Clay Township’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 82% of U.S. towns · #277 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Joseph Flory House. Below: maps from 1905 on.

2on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
Quick answers

About Clay Township’s history

How historic is Clay Township?

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More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Clay Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clay Township is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #277 of 993 in Ohio. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clay Township’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 82%
NewerOlder
Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 72%

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 Clay Township’s 6.8 sits above most of its state (69% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% 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 (±3.8 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 Clay 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.

Corwin
1849–1856
Dodson
1853–1901
South Arlington
1858–1881
Bachman
1863–1911
Vorhees
1881–1901
Wengerlawn
1882–1915
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ArlingtonBachmanBrookville Lakes EstatesDodsonFive PointsSwanktownWengerlawn
Gone or out of use
Bachman Post Officepost officeDodson Post Officepost officePhillipsburg QuarrymineWengerlawn Post Officepost office
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Clay Township
ArlingtonBachmanKreiderPhillipsburgSwankWorman

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

Help out

Start Clay Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
The story so far

Clay Township, in brief

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

Clay Township is one of the nine townships of Montgomery County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 8,876.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 8,847 in 2010, 8,876 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Clay Township, 1849 to 1905

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1849Post officeThe Corwin post office opens
  3. 1853Post officeThe Dodson post office opens
  4. 1856Post officeThe Corwin post office closes
  5. 1858Post officeThe South Arlington post office opens
  6. 1881Post officeThe South Arlington post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1901Post officeThe Dodson post office closes
  9. 1905On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Clay Township, decade by decade

On the map

Clay Township on the map, 1905 to 1986

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

Clay Township on the 1905 USGS mapClay Township on the 1986 USGS map1905Brookville 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 Clay Township.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Clay Township

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
6
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Joseph Flory House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Federal1

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Clay Township

Nobody well known was born in Clay Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Questions about Clay Township’s history

How does Clay Township rank for history?

Clay Township is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #277 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.

What is on the National Register in Clay Township?

2 listings: 1 building, among them the Joseph Flory House (listed 1978, the first). 6 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Clay Township?

20% of Clay Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1969.

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 (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.