History · Elk Township

Elk Township’s post office opened in 1852, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 53% of U.S. towns · #625 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: maps from 1961 on.

1852first post office

1on the National Register

17%homes built before 1940

1famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

Photo: Nyttend · Public domain

Quick answers

How Elk Township began

When was Elk Township founded?

1852

The Elk Township post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Vinton Station (1857) and Elk Fork (1900), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 3,287174 years

How historic is Elk Township?

B⁻

More historic than 53% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Elk Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

History grade

What drives Elk Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Elk Township is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns, #625 of 993 in Ohio. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B⁻

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Elk Township’s overall grade.

Founding era1852, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC⁺Homes built before 194016.8% of homes (±6.9) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%B National Register1 listing, 3.1 per 10,000 residents · typical OH town 2.9 · U.S. 2.4B⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 53%

NewerOlder

Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 37%

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 Elk Township’s 3.1 sits near the middle of its state (56% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.9 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 Elk 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 Elk Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Elk Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Elk Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elk 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

Places that used to be

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

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

Vinton Station

1857–1901

Elk Fork

1900–1912

18501940today

Hamlets and corners on the map

Elk ForkRed DiamondVinton

Gone or out of use

Hawk SchoolschoolMiller SchoolschoolRobb Schoolschool

2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Elk Township

Elk ForkHixon

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

The story so far

Elk Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Elk Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Elk Township is one of the twelve townships of Vinton County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 3,287 people in the township, 1,783 of whom lived in the village of McArthur.

Its first post office opened in 1852. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 3,306 in 2010, 3,287 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Elk Township, 1857 to 1961

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

19th century
1857Post officeThe Vinton Station post office opens
1878Born hereFrancis A. Nixon is born here
20th century
1900Post officeThe Elk Fork post office opens
1901Post officeThe Vinton Station post office closes
1912Post officeThe Elk Fork post office closes
1961On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey

By decade

Elk Township, decade by decade

Today3 recent

2016Powder Plant Road fields

2016Elk Township I-house

2015Map of Vinton County Ohio Highlighting Elk TownshipMap

On the map

Elk Township on the map, 1961 to 2002

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

1961Zaleski sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Elk Township.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Elk Township

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

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

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.

Madison Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Clinton TownshipIts storyC⁺Richland Township1 historic placeB Swan TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Elk Township’s history

What year was Elk Township founded?

The Elk Township post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Elk Township rank for history?

Elk Township is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns, #625 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 Elk Township?

17% of Elk Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.9 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.

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 (3), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.

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