Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the Smith Road Bridge. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1906 on, and old-book passages.
The Lykens Township post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Brokensword (1837) and Lykens (1844), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
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 Lykens Township’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lykens Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Lykens is an unincorporated community in Lykens Township, Crawford County, Ohio, United States.
Its first post office opened in 1844. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 660 to 589 (-11%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Passages that mention Lykens Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
ing was taught b}' Edward Porter, who had taught one or two terms in the neighborhood previously. During the winter of 1832-33, he had taught in a log cabin in Lykens Township, about a mile and a half northeast of the present village of Portersville. In early years it was customary, and was the supreme delight of the pupils (and they greatly relish it yet),
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
and is yet standing. Cyrus Fralick built the second, which is also standing, though additions have since been made to it. The third was erected across the line in Lykens Township by Benjamin Fawcett. The town was laid out in 1852 by the County Surveyor, George M. Wiley.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
arisen, here and there, before that event transpired. Jacob Lintner, one of the earliest in this settlement, erected a blacksmith-shop just across the line in Lykens Township, shortly after his arrival, though he did not receive sufficient work to make it advisable to drop all other labor, except in the line of his trade. He was quite ingenious, and worked considerably
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
arisen, here and there, before that event transpired. Jacob Lintner, one of the earliest in this settlement, erected a blacksmith-shop just across the line in Lykens Township, shortly after his arrival, though he did not receive sufficient work to make it advisable to drop all other labor, except in the line of his trade. He was quite ingenious, and worked considerably
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereLorenzo D. Gasser is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lykens 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 Lykens Township.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lykens Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Lykens Township post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
One place: the Smith Road Bridge (listed 1980).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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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