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AHistory
History · Defiance Township

Defiance Township dates to 1822, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 95% of U.S. towns · #62 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it

8 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1850.

1822founded
8on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
10old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Defiance Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Defiance Township began

When was Defiance Township founded?

1822

Defiance Township dates its founding to 1822 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1850.

First census: 800 in 18502020 census: 13,216204 years

How historic is Defiance Township?

A

More historic than 95% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1821.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Defiance Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Defiance Township is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns, #62 of 993 in Ohio. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Defiance Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1822, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194028.9% of homes (±4.9) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register8 listings, 109 historic buildings, 82.1 per 10,000 residents · typical OH town 2.9 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 95%
NewerOlder
Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 94%

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 Defiance Township’s 82.1 sits above most of its state (92% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 109 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% 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 (±4.9 points). Two sources give 1822.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Defiance Township’s past

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

Landmarks on the Register8 places on the National Register.Deep rootsEstablished in 1822: 204 years of Defiance Township.Old housesHalf of Defiance Township’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

8 listings protect 109 historic buildings

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

places listed
8
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
109
each building in a district counts

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

Timeline

Defiance Township, 1822 to 1909

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1822
    FoundingDefiance Township is established
  3. 1879In the archiveJackson Street, Defiance, Ohio (approximately 1879) - DPLA - b3116adb9a8b823627449c97aca4…
  4. 1879Post officeThe Ashwood post office opens
  5. 1880Post officeThe Ashwood post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1900In the archiveMiami and Erie Canal, Defiance, Ohio (approximately 1900) - DPLA - 0deb840b88941ed4f532bc…
  8. 1909On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Defiance Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Defiance Township.

Read it all →

The city contains the site of Fort Defiance, built by General "Mad" Anthony Wayne in August 1794 during the Northwest Indian War. Wayne surveyed the land and declared to General Charles Scott, "I defy the English, Indians, and all the devils of hell to take it." Using the fort as a base of operations, Wayne ordered his troops to destroy Native American crops and villages within a radius of 50 miles (80 km) around the fort. Today a pair of cannons outside the city library on the Maumee River overlook the confluence and mark the location of Fort Defiance, along with a mounded outline of the fort walls. The city was named after Fort Defiance.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Defiance Township in 1883

Passages that mention Defiance Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Range 4 east, being a half of Auglaize Township, Henry County; and this half township included all organization of Defiance County in 1845. The northern portion of Defiance Township, as now constituted, comprises the southern part of Defiance Township, Williams County; which formerly included, besi…
History of Defiance County, Ohio1883 · page 199Read the page →
Read the text

Range 4 east, being a half of Auglaize Township, Henry County; and this half township included all organization of Defiance County in 1845. The northern portion of Defiance Township, as now constituted, comprises the southern part of Defiance Township, Williams County; which formerly included, besides these, the land which auw comprises Noble.

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

Defiance Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s–1900s10 items
Jackson Street, Defiance, Ohio (approximately 1879) - DPLA - b3116adb9a8b823627449c97aca402fa1879Jackson Street, Defiance, Ohio (approximately 1879) -…Masonic Hall, Defiance, Ohio (approximately 1879) - DPLA - ba0db580dc4dc70c81655cb6443da3d21879Masonic Hall, Defiance, Ohio (approximately 1879) - D…Maumee and Auglaize Rivers, Defiance, Ohio (approximately 1879) - DPLA - d9568b8876fa1b223474b12ace47e1e21879Maumee and Auglaize Rivers, Defiance, Ohio (approxima…Mouth of the Tiffin River, Defiance, Ohio (approximately 1879) - DPLA - 572130f38435e418ec45875d52a321511879Mouth of the Tiffin River, Defiance, Ohio (approximat…Miami and Erie Canal, Defiance, Ohio (approximately 1900) - DPLA - 0deb840b88941ed4f532bc0170b2b6a31900Miami and Erie Canal, Defiance, Ohio (approximately 1…Old Fort Defiance1905Old Fort DefianceLandscape near Defiance, O1905Landscape near Defiance, OCity Hall1905City HallCounty Court House1905County Court HouseSoldiers and Sailors Monument1905Soldiers and Sailors Monument
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Defiance Township on the map, 1909 to 1986

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

Defiance Township on the 1909 USGS mapDefiance Township on the 1986 USGS map1909Continental 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 Defiance Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Jackson Street, Defiance, Ohio (approximately 1879) - DPLA - b3116adb9a8b823627449c97aca402fa
Retake this viewJackson Street, Defiance, Ohio (approximately 1879) - DPLA - b3116adb9a8b823627449c97aca402fa, 1879

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Defiance Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Defiance Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,00018,000185019001950200017,066

Grew from 800 people in 1850 to 17,066 in 2020, more than tenfold.

18 censuses, 1850–2020.

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

Places that used to be

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

Another post office, Ashwood, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Ashwood
Gone or out of use
Ashwood Post Officepost office
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Defiance Township
CromleyFosterShoemakerTaylor

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

Help out

Finish Defiance Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewJackson Street, Defiance, Ohio (approxi…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Noble Township1 historic placeBAuglaize TownshipIts storyC−Richland TownshipIts storyC

Questions about Defiance Township’s history

What year was Defiance Township founded?

In 1822, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Defiance Township’s post office opened in 1821, and the census of 1850 counted 800 people here.

How does Defiance Township rank for history?

Defiance Township is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns, #62 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.

How old are the homes in Defiance Township?

29% of Defiance Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1964.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (5), the Library of Congress (5), Wikidata (2), 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.