The Farmer Township post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Wileysville (1865), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 892183 years
Founding year: the first Farmer Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
What stands out about Farmer Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Farmer Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Farmer is an unincorporated community in central Farmer Township, Defiance County, Ohio, United States. It has a post office with the ZIP code 43520. It is located at the intersection of State Routes 2 and 249.
Its first post office opened in 1843. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 963 to 892 (-7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
On the map
Farmer Township on the map, 1914 to 1973
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Farmer Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1914Bryan 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 Farmer Township.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Farmer Township in 1883
Passages that mention Farmer Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Defiance County, Ohio1883 · page 267Read the page →
Read the text
Farmer Township was organized in the fall of 1836. At first it was called “Lost Creek” Township, but afterward received the name of “ Farmer,” in honor of Nathan Farmer, who came into the township as early as 1833. The township was heavily timbered and somewhat wet; but after the farms were cleared and drained, it proved good land for culture, yielding fine crops of wheat, oats, corn and grass, and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Defiance County, Ohio1883 · page 271Read the page →
Read the text
December 16, 1812, and came to St. Lawrence County, N. Y.. and thence to Cuyahoga County, Ohio, in 1835, where he remained six months, and then came to “Tost Creek,” in Farmer Township, Defiance County, in July, 1836. The township was not then organized. Mr. Lord arrived in July, too late for the spring election.
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
Farmer Township, 1843 to 1914
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, Wileysville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Farmer
1843–today
Wileysville
1865–1883
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
FarmerWilseyville
Gone or out of use
Case SchoolschoolDry Creek United Brethren ChurchchurchLost Creek SchoolschoolOliver SchoolschoolSchool Number 1schoolSchool Number 2schoolSchool Number 3schoolSchool Number 4schoolSchool Number 6schoolWilseyville Post Officepost office
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Farmer Township
FarmerKentLost CreekOld Presbyterian
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
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 (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
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