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Grand Lake St. Marys LighthousePhoto: Nyttend · Public domain
A−History
History · Jefferson Township

13% of Jefferson Township’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 82% of U.S. towns · #271 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it

6 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1914 on.

6on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
Quick answers

About Jefferson Township’s history

How historic is Jefferson Township?

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More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Jefferson Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jefferson Township is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #271 of 993 in Ohio. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Jefferson Township’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 82%
NewerOlder
Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 73%

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 Jefferson Township’s 34.8 sits above most of its state (86% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 48 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.0 points).

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 →

What stands out about Jefferson 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 Jefferson Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Jefferson 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

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
Harbor PointHighland ParkIdlewildLakeland BeachLivingston Mobile Home ParkNorthwoodSleepy Hollow Acres
Gone or out of use
Brock SchoolschoolBuck SchoolschoolCelina QuarrymineKarch Stone QuarrymineMcDaniels SchoolschoolReservoir StationlocaleSchool Number 8school
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Jefferson Township
Mercer Memory GardensOldtownSwamp College

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

On the map

Jefferson Township on the map, 1914 to 1982

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

Jefferson Township on the 1914 USGS mapJefferson Township on the 1944 USGS mapJefferson Township on the 1960 USGS mapJefferson Township on the 1973 USGS mapJefferson Township on the 1982 USGS map1914Celina 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 Jefferson Township.

The story so far

Jefferson Township, in brief

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

Jefferson Township is one of the fourteen townships of Mercer County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 13,802 people in the township.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 13,155 to 13,802 (+5%).

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

Timeline

Jefferson Township, 1856 to 1923

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1856Post officeThe Reservoir post office opens
  3. 1884Post officeThe Reservoir post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1914On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1923BuiltGrand Lake St. Marys Lighthouse is built
By decade

Jefferson Township, decade by decade

On the National Register

6 listings protect 48 historic buildings

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

places listed
6
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
48
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Grand Lake St. Marys Lighthouse

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Jefferson Township

Nobody well known was born in Jefferson Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Questions about Jefferson Township’s history

How does Jefferson Township rank for history?

Jefferson Township is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #271 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.

What is on the National Register in Jefferson Township?

6 listings: 1 structure. 48 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Jefferson Township?

13% of Jefferson Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1971.

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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.