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B+History
History · McKean Township

18% of McKean Township’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 70% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the St. Paul AME Church.

1on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
Quick answers

About McKean Township’s history

How historic is McKean Township?

B+

More historic than 70% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives McKean Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, McKean Township is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of McKean Township’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 70%
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 McKean Township’s 5.7 sits above most of its state (66% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±6.9 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 McKean 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 McKean Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how McKean 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

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

Fredonia
1837–1900
Sylvania
1851–1858
High Water
1886–1900
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cokesbury CornersFredoniaHighwater
Gone or out of use
Blackhawk SchoolschoolBrushy Fork SchoolschoolDevinney SchoolschoolFredonia Post Officepost officeHigh Water Post Officepost officeJones SchoolschoolSunnyside Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside McKean Township
BowersClarkFredoniaOld Fredonia

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

The story so far

McKean Township, in brief

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

McKean Township is one of the 25 townships of Licking County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,606.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,523 to 1,606 (+5%).

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

Timeline

McKean Township, 1837 to 1900

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1837Post officeThe Fredonia post office opens
  3. 1851Post officeThe Sylvania post office opens
  4. 1858Post officeThe Sylvania post office closes
  5. 1886Post officeThe High Water post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1900Post officeThe Fredonia post office closes
  8. 1900Post officeThe High Water post office closes
By decade

McKean Township, decade by decade

On the National Register

1 historic place in McKean Township

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1997
St. Paul AME Church
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Vernacular1

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

Famous people

Famous people close to McKean Township

Nobody well known was born in McKean 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 McKean Township’s history

How does McKean Township rank for history?

McKean Township is more historic than 70% 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.

What is on the National Register in McKean Township?

One place: the St. Paul AME Church (listed 1997).

How old are the homes in McKean Township?

18% of McKean Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.9 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1987.

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