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A−History
History · Crosby Township

Crosby Township dates to 1803, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 78% of U.S. towns · #346 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it

Most of Crosby Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2010. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 20 buildings. Below: maps from 1915 on and the census since 1820.

1803founded
1on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Crosby Township began

When was Crosby Township founded?

1803

Crosby Township dates its founding to 1803 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1820.

First census: 1,721 in 18202020 census: 6,030223 years

How historic is Crosby Township?

A−

More historic than 78% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1809.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Crosby Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Crosby Township is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #346 of 993 in Ohio. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Crosby Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1803, from Wikipedia: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19408.3% of homes (±5.6) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register1 listing, 20 historic buildings, 32.8 per 10,000 residents · typical OH town 2.9 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 78%
NewerOlder
Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 65%

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 Crosby Township’s 32.8 sits above most of its state (85% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 20 historic buildings outnumber those of 79% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.6 points). Two sources give 1803.

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Crosby Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Crosby Township, and 5 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Crosby Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1870 and 1930, then grew more than tenfold.A historic districtThe Whitewater Shaker Settlement takes in 20 historic buildings.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

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

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

Crosby
1809–1818
New Haven
1824–1825
Preston
1825–1903
Sater
1874–1905
Fort Scott Camps
1941–1958
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
FernaldFort ScottNew BaltimoreNew HavenShaker Village
Gone or out of use
Edgewood SchoolschoolFeed Materials Production CenterlocaleFort Scott Camps Post Officepost office
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Crosby Township
Mount Hope PetNew HavenSaterScottShaker

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

Help out

Start Crosby Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Crosby 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
People over time

Crosby Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,50018501900195020002,514 in 1870Low: 543

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1870 and 1930, then grew more than tenfold.

19 censuses, 1820–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Crosby Township’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Crosby Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Crosby Township.

Read it all →

The lands in Crosby Township were opened later and more slowly than its southern neighbors. While good land remained for sale in the more accessible townships there was little incentive to move this far away from the Ohio River. Difficulties with local Indians contributed to this delay.

Joab Comstock was the first settler. He came from New Haven, Connecticut, in 1801 and purchased several sections leading up from the banks of the Great Miami River. The township was organized in 1803.

ChaptersName

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Crosby Township, 1803 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1803
    FoundingCrosby Township is established
  3. 1809Post officeThe Crosby post office opens
  4. 1818Post officeThe Crosby post office closes
  5. 1824Post officeThe New Haven post office opens
  6. 1825Post officeThe New Haven post office closes
  7. 1825Post officeThe Preston post office opens
  8. 1862Born hereAmbrose E. B. Stephens is born here
  9. 20th century
  10. 1903Post officeThe Preston post office closes
  11. 1915On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 21st century
  13. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 6,030
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Crosby Township on the map, 1915 to 1981

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

Crosby Township on the 1915 USGS mapCrosby Township on the 1955 USGS mapCrosby Township on the 1965 USGS mapCrosby Township on the 1974 USGS mapCrosby Township on the 1981 USGS map1915Hamilton 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 Crosby Township.

On the National Register

1 listing protects 20 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
20
each building in a district counts
first listed
1974
Whitewater Shaker Settlement
Whitewater Shaker Settlement
Districts
Whitewater Shaker SettlementDistrict

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Colerain TownshipIts storyC+DunlapIts storyBTaylor CreekIts storyC−Whitewater Township1 historic placeBDry RidgeIts storyCRoss Township4 historic placesB+Blue JayIts storyBMorgan Township3 historic placesB+New BaltimoreIts storyCRoss2 historic placesB

Questions about Crosby Township’s history

What year was Crosby Township founded?

In 1803, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Crosby Township’s post office opened in 1809, and the census of 1820 counted 1,721 people here.

How does Crosby Township rank for history?

Crosby Township is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #346 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 Crosby Township?

One place: the Whitewater Shaker Settlement (listed 1974).

How old are the homes in Crosby Township?

8% of Crosby Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 2010.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.