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History · Clay Township

37% of Clay Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1906 on.

0on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Nyttend · Public domain

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.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Clay Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Clay Township, and 5 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19063 editions of the USGS map, 1906 to 1971. Watch Clay Township change.
★ What stands out · 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.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

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

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Saint Johns
1838–today
Santa Fe
1881–1954
Gutman
1884–1905
Geyer
1894–1911
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
GeyerGutmanSaint JohnsSanta FeSlater
Gone or out of use
Castle SchoolschoolGeyer Post Officepost officeGutman Post Officepost officeSanta Fe Post Officepost officeSchool Number 1schoolSchool Number 4schoolSchool Number 7schoolSchool Number 8school
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Clay Township
GeyerHelmingerMount Tabor

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

On the map

Clay Township on the map, 1906 to 1971

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 1906 USGS mapClay Township on the 1961 USGS mapClay Township on the 1971 USGS map1906Lima 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.

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 fourteen townships of Auglaize County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 790 people in the township.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 817 to 790 (-3%).

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

Timeline

Clay Township, 1838 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1838Post officeThe Saint Johns post office opens
  3. 1881Post officeThe Santa Fe post office opens
  4. 1884Post officeThe Gutman post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1905Post officeThe Gutman post office closes
  7. 1906On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1954Post officeThe Santa Fe post office closes
By decade

Clay Township, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Clay Township former schoolhouse2015Clay Township former schoolhouseMap of Auglaize County Ohio Highlighting Clay Township2015Map of Auglaize County Ohio Highlighting Clay TownshipMapClay Auglaize2006Clay AuglaizeOHMap-doton-Clay2005OHMap-doton-Clay
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 →
D
Dudley NicholsAmerican screenwriter · b. 1895
Charles J. ThompsonAmerican politician · b. 1862
Bob EwingAmerican baseball player · b. 1873
C
Charles BradingAmerican politician · b. 1935
George KohlrieserAmerican psychologist · b. 1944
J
Jennifer CrusieAmerican writer · b. 1949
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Union Township2 historic placesAPusheta Township1 historic placeA−Jackson Township1 historic placeA−Stokes TownshipIts storyC

Questions about Clay Township’s history

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (4), 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.