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C−History
History · Guyan Township

Guyan Township’s post office opened in 1857

More historic than 23% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Guyan Township was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978.

1857first post office
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Photo: Nyttend · Public domain
Quick answers

How Guyan Township began

When was Guyan Township founded?

1857

The Guyan Township post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Messersville (1840), Mercerville (1842) and Breckenridge (1856), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 1,129169 years

How historic is Guyan Township?

C−

More historic than 23% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Guyan Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Guyan Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Guyan Township is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Guyan Township’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 23%
NewerOlder

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 Guyan Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.0 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 Guyan Township’s past

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

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Guyan Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Guyan Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Places that used to be

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

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

Messersville
1840–1842
Mercerville
1842–1952
Breckenridge
1856–1858
Guyan
1857–1858
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Good HopeMercerville
Gone or out of use
Mercerville Post Officepost office
16cemeteries and burying grounds inside Guyan Township
BethlehemCallowayCampbellFellureGarlicGood HopeHalleyJohnsonMarttMercervilleNotterRidgelawnSheetsSiloamStewart ChapelSwindler

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

The story so far

Guyan Township, in brief

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

Guyan Township is one of the fifteen townships of Gallia County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 1,129.

Its first post office opened in 1857. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,166 to 1,129 (-3%).

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

Timeline

Guyan Township, 1840 to 1952

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1840Post officeThe Messersville post office opens
  3. 1842Post officeThe Messersville post office closes
  4. 1842Post officeThe Mercerville post office opens
  5. 1856Post officeThe Breckenridge post office opens
  6. 1858Post officeThe Breckenridge post office closes
  7. 1887Born hereGrandma Gatewood is born here
  8. 20th century
  9. 1952Post officeThe Mercerville post office closes
By decade

Guyan Township, decade by decade

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Questions about Guyan Township’s history

What year was Guyan Township founded?

The Guyan Township post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Guyan Township rank for history?

Guyan Township is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns. 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 Guyan Township?

6% of Guyan Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1978.

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 (2), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.