The story
Read it all →How Congress came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Congress.
Congress was originally called Waynesburg, and under the latter name was laid out in 1827.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Congress
Congress’ post office opened in 1832, and 52% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1906 on and the census since 1870.
1832first post office
0on the National Register
52%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Congress began
When was Congress founded?
1832
The Congress post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 309 in 18702020 census: 132194 years
Founding year: the first Congress post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Congress’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Congress’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Congress’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Congress, 1832 to 1907
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1832Post officeThe Congress post office opens
- 20th century
- 1906
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1907Post officeThe Congress post office closes
From the old history books
What they wrote about Congress in 1878
Passages that mention Congress, 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.
History of Wayne county, Ohio, from the days of the pioneers and the first settlers to the present time1878 · page 830Read the page →
Read the text
Isaac Poe came to Wayne county in the spring of 1812, with his brother George, stopping in Wooster for a few years, and removing to Congress township April I, 1815. He had previously entered a quarter section of land, upon which a portion of the village of Congress now stands, where he lived three years, and then sold his farm to David Garver and Lawrence Rix. He then bought the John Lawrence farm, in Plain township, from Hon. Benjamin Jones, lived there a year, and sold it back to Mr. Jones, who sold it to Christian, father of John Lawrence, Esq., of Wooster township. From the Lawrence place he emigrated to Kentucky, thence
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.
By decade
Congress, decade by decade
Today1 recent
2016On the map
Congress on the map, 1906 to 1961
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Congress. 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.
People over time
Congress, 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’ Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Congress
Nobody well known was born in Congress itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
J
John Howard YoderAmerican theologian and academic · b. 1927
Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Congress had its own post office from 1832 to 1907.
Congress
18301930today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Congress’ history
What year was Congress founded?
The Congress post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (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.