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History · Medway

Medway’s post office opened in 1850, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: old-book passages.

1850first post office
0on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers

How Medway began

When was Medway founded?

1850

The Medway post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 627176 years
Founding year: the first Medway post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

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The story

How Medway came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Medway.

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When European explorers, namely French fur traders, reached the Mad River in 1671, they found an abundance of beaver pelt among other prized furs. They followed the Honey Creek, through the current locations of the town of Medway where they established a small base camp (later moved to a Shawnee trading post near present-day Springfield, Ohio). On September 17, 1671, the Spangler party claimed all the lands comprising the drainage basin of the river, later renamed the Mad River, for Louis XIV as part of New France.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Medway, 1881–1908

Passages that mention Medway, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Probably the first mill that was built on Mad River in Clark County was erected by Archibald Steele, who settled in the village of Medway in 1807. It was a grist-mill and nothing veiw definite is known at this time further concerning it.
20th century history of Springfield, and Clark County, Ohio1908 · page 180Read the page →
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Probably the first mill that was built on Mad River in Clark County was erected by Archibald Steele, who settled in the village of Medway in 1807. It was a grist-mill and nothing veiw definite is known at this time further concerning it.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Bethel Township has three villages. The Rev. Archibald Steel settled on part of Section 19, Township 3, Range 9, in 1807; soon after built a grist-mill, which formed the nucleus of the town of Medway. It is situated on the Valley Pike, nearly midway between Dayton and Springfield. The last census g…
The History of Clark County Ohio,1881 · page 708Read the page →
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Bethel Township has three villages. The Rev. Archibald Steel settled on part of Section 19, Township 3, Range 9, in 1807; soon after built a grist-mill, which formed the nucleus of the town of Medway. It is situated on the Valley Pike, nearly midway between Dayton and Springfield. The last census gave 21! inhabitants. Medway is surrounded by one of the finest farming districts in the world— which, however, is the character of the whole of the Mad River Valley. Medway has one dry goods store, an? one grocery and provision store, a carriage-faetory, wagon and blacksmith shops, a

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Bethel Township has three villages. The Rev. Archibald Steel settled on part of Section .19, Township 3, Range 9, in 1807; soon after built a grist-mill, which formed the nucleus of the town of Medway. It. is situated on the Valley Pike, nearly midway between Dayton and Springfield. The last census…
The history of Clark County, Ohio, containing a history of the county1881Read the page →
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Bethel Township has three villages. The Rev. Archibald Steel settled on part of Section .19, Township 3, Range 9, in 1807; soon after built a grist-mill, which formed the nucleus of the town of Medway. It. is situated on the Valley Pike, nearly midway between Dayton and Springfield. The last census gave 2.11 inhabitants. Medway is surrounded by one of the finest farming districts in the world— which, however, is the character of the whole of the Mad River Valley. Medway has one diy goods store, and one grocery and provision store, a carriage-factory, wagon and blacksmith shops, a

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
principal stopping place at New Carlisle, and the Springfield & Dayton Traction Company have a branch from their head lines at Medway, extending to New Carlisle, the main branch following the Valley pike to Medway, thence across the river to Osborn. These are all the railroads in the township. The …
20th century history of Springfield, and Clark County, Ohio1908 · page 222Read the page →
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principal stopping place at New Carlisle, and the Springfield & Dayton Traction Company have a branch from their head lines at Medway, extending to New Carlisle, the main branch following the Valley pike to Medway, thence across the river to Osborn. These are all the railroads in the township. The Dayton

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.

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Questions about Medway’s history

What year was Medway founded?

The Medway post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people 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.