2 of Lemon Township’s places are on the National Register
More historic than 47% of U.S. towns · #692 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of Lemon Township was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1998. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and old-book passages.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lemon Township is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #692 of 993 in Ohio. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lemon Township’s overall grade.
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 Lemon Township’s 5.2 sits near the middle of its state (65% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 9 historic buildings outnumber those of 75% 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 (±2.1 points) is firm at this size.
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 Lemon Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Le Sourdsville
1838–1906
Excello
1870–1957
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ExcelloNorth Excello
Gone or out of use
Excello Post Officepost officeLe Sourdsville Post Officepost officeMonroe Stationlocale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Lemon Township on the map, 1904 to 1981
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lemon Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1904Mason 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 Lemon Township.
The township as originally created was approximately 36 square miles (93 km2) and included all of the Butler County portions of what is Middletown and most of the Butler County part of Monroe, the remainder being in Liberty Township. The southern part of the township was within the limits of the Symmes Purchase, the northern boundary today being marked by Todhunter Road, 2.25 miles (3.62 km) north of the southern boundary. It was bounded on the east by the Warren County line and on the west and north by the Great Miami River.
The original boundaries included all of what is now Madison Township, Madison being divided from Lemon on May 7, 1810.
Passages that mention Lemon Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history and biographical cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio, with illustrations and sketches of its representative men and pioneers1882Read the page →
Read the text
John Reily. clerk of Butler Common Pleas, the annual allowance by law for failures in State prosecutions, including his services in certifying the election of a justice of the peace in Lemon Township, $23.10; John Relic, clerk of the Board of Commissioners, for services from the 5th November, 1804, to the 22d May, 1805, including stationery furnished, $10.83; Samuel Dillon, coroner, for an inquest taken on the (had body of Stephen Wil-
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
Lemon Township, 1838 to 1957
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Lemon Township is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #692 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 Lemon Township?
2 listings: 1 historic district, the Harding-Jones Paper Company District, with 4 contributing buildings. 9 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Lemon Township?
4% of Lemon Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1998.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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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