Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns · #9 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
20 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1914 on and old-book passages.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Goshen Township is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #9 of 993 in Ohio. All 2 inputs put Goshen Township near the top nationally; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest.
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 Goshen Township’s 90.7 sits above most of its state (92% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 33 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Goshen Township’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Goshen Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Goshen Township.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Goshen Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Goshen Township is one of the twelve townships of Champaign County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census reported 3,633 people living in the township.
Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 3,696 in 2010, 3,633 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Goshen Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
struct, a narrow-gauge railroad from Urbana through Mechanicsburg to West Jefferson, thence to Columbus, to be called the “ Columbus & Northwestern Railway Company.” The company was organized, route surveyed, and considerable stock subscribed. The amount subscribed in Goshen Township, including, of course, Mechanicsburg, was about $9,000. The work of building the road was also let to an Eastern firm ; but the railroad company failed to comply with their part of the contract, and the other party very gladly retired from the work, as the material advanced so greatly that their contract
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Champaign, in addition to the competition resulting from the associations of the counties adjoining on every side, has also found an active and enterprising competitor in a district fair, organized and conducted under private auspices, and holding their annual exhibit at Mechanicsburg, in Goshen Township. This association is entitled : “The Central Ohio Fair Association,” a more detailed account of which will be found in the record of Goshen Township.
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.
Nobody well known was born in Goshen Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Goshen Township is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #9 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.
20 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Church Of Our Savior (listed 1985, the first). 33 historic buildings in all.
41% of Goshen Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.1 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1959.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
2015
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