The story
Read it all →How Congress Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Congress Township.
Congress was originally called Waynesburg, and under the latter name was laid out in 1827.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
AHistory
History · Congress Township
Congress Township’s post office opened in 1832, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 87% of U.S. towns · #197 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Deerlick Farm. Below: maps from 1906 on and the census since 1870.
1832first post office
1on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Congress Township began
When was Congress Township founded?
1832
The Congress Township post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Armstrongs (1833), Pleasant Home (1873) and Armstrong (1893), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 309 in 18702020 census: 4,439194 years
How historic is Congress Township?
A
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 87% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Congress Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Congress Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Congress Township is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #197 of 993 in Ohio. All 3 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 Congress Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1832, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194019.3% of homes (±7.1) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register1 listing, 10 historic buildings, 22.4 per 10,000 residents · typical OH town 2.9 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 87%
NewerOlder
Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 80%
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 Congress Township’s 22.4 sits above most of its state (82% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 10 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% 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 (±7.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Congress 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 Congress Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Congress Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Old burying grounds14 cemeteries and burying grounds inside Congress Township.Deep rootsA post office since 1832: 194 years of Congress Township.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Congress Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Congress Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.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.
Armstrongs
Pleasant Home
Armstrong
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ArmstrongAukermanPleasant Home
Gone or out of use
School Number 16schoolWest Salem Millslocale
14cemeteries and burying grounds inside Congress Township
AukermanBald KnobBurbankClarkCongressEwingHazzardOld Dutch ReformedReppSaint JosephsStanleyVan CleveWarners - CongressYocum
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From the old history books
What they wrote about Congress Township in 1878
Passages that mention Congress Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Wayne county, Ohio, from the days of the pioneers and the first settlers to the present time1878 · page 811Read the page →
Read the text
Reminiscences of Congress Township by Hon. Michael Totien and James Carlin. — In 1815 the first families moved into what is now Congress township. Some time during the first week in February Michael and Henry Totten accompanied George and Isaac Poe, and cut a trail from Wooster to where the village of Congress stands, which at that time was all forest, the lands having not been entered. We encamped with George Poe, about one-half mile from the village, until we could erect a cabin, which we built on section 27, on the lands owned by John Garver.
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
Congress Township, 1833 to 1906
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1833Post officeThe Armstrongs post office opens
- 1838Post officeThe Armstrongs post office closes
- 1873Post officeThe Pleasant Home post office opens
- 1893Post officeThe Armstrong post office opens
- 1899Post officeThe Armstrong post office closes
- 20th century
- 1902Post officeThe Pleasant Home post office closes
- 1906
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Congress Township, decade by decade
Today1 recent
2016On the map
Congress Township on the map, 1906 to 1961
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Congress Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1906West Salem sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Congress Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Congress Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
10
each building in a district counts
first listed
1986
Deerlick Farm
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Queen Anne1
Italianate1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Congress Township, census by census
Between 123 and 309 people in every census since 1870.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Congress Township’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Congress Township
Nobody well known was born in Congress Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Congress Township’s history
What year was Congress Township founded?
The Congress Township post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Congress Township rank for history?
Congress Township is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #197 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 Congress Township?
One place: the Deerlick Farm (listed 1986).
How old are the homes in Congress Township?
19% of Congress Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1976.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.