Conesville is most likely named after Beebe Stewart Cone, who in 1847, with three other men, erected a sizable distillery near the west side of the Muskingum River. A group of houses for workers was built near the distillery, accompanied by several small businesses. The distillery burned down in 1857. Afterward, Cone gave up that business venture and moved on to Muscatine County, Iowa. The distillery was rebuilt by a man named James Beebe, but it also burned down a few years later. Prior to 1840, a man named Delaney purchased land in the same area and planned for it to be named Delaneysville, but it failed as an incorporated entity.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Conesville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1908Conesville 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 Conesville.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Conesville, 1881–1909
Passages that mention Conesville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Coshocton County, Ohio1881 · page 492Read the page →
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Franklin station, and continues in a course nearly parallel with the canal. The road has three flag-stations in the township: Rock Run, Franklin and Conesville. A single wagon bridge spans the Muskingum, near Conesville. The river is fordable, however, in one or two places.
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History of Coshocton County, Ohio1881 · page 492Read the page →
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Franklin station, and continues in a course nearly parallel with the canal. The road has three flag-stations in the township : Rock Run, Franklin and Conesville. A single wagon bridge spans the Muskingum, near Conesville. The river is fordable, however, in one or two places.
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History of Coshocton County, Ohio1881 · page 499Read the page →
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20 Conesville of to-day is merely a railroad station, with a country store attached. The name was formerly applied to a collection of some sixteen or eighteen houses which sprang into existence about Cones' distillery for the accommodation of the families of the men employed there. While the distillery was in operation,
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Centennial history of Coshocton County, Ohio1909 · page 212Read the page →
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In 1894 the Oden Valley Coal Company acquired a large acreage of coal northwest of Conesville and opened mines thereon that year, connecting with the Panhandle by using part of the Davis track to the railroad. G. W. Cassingham is the principal stockholder in the company and superintendent of the mine.
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
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