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BHistory
History · Ottawa Township

Ottawa Township dates to 1861, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #536 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it

4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1850.

1861founded
4on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ottawa Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Ottawa Township began

When was Ottawa Township founded?

1861

Ottawa Township dates its founding to 1861 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1850.

First census: 104 in 18502020 census: 8,034165 years

How historic is Ottawa Township?

B

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1839.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Ottawa Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ottawa Township is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #536 of 993 in Ohio. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ottawa Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1861, from Wikipedia: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194017.3% of homes (±3.9) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register4 listings, 5.0 per 10,000 residents · typical OH town 2.9 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 60%
NewerOlder
Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 46%

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 Ottawa Township’s 5.0 sits near the middle of its state (64% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.9 points). Two sources give 1861.

Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). 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 Ottawa Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

On the map since 19083 editions of the USGS map, 1908 to 1973. Watch Ottawa Township change.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · On the map

Ottawa Township on the map, 1908 to 1973

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

Ottawa Township on the 1908 USGS mapOttawa Township on the 1960 USGS mapOttawa Township on the 1973 USGS map1908Ottawa 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 Ottawa Township.

On the National Register

4 historic places in Ottawa Township

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts

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

The story

How Ottawa Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ottawa Township.

Read it all →

The region was long inhabited by the Iroquoian-speaking Wyandot and Algonquian-speaking Ottawa tribes, who settled along the Blanchard River. In 1792 President George Washington sent Major Alexander Truman, his servant William Lynch, and guide/interpreter William Smalley on a peace mission to the tribes. Truman and Lynch were killed; the date of their deaths was apparently prior to April 20, 1792, at Lower Tawa Town, an Ottawa village. (The Ottawa County Courthouse stands on the site of their killings). A similar mission led by Colonel John Hardin ended with Hardin and his servant Freeman being killed in Shelby County; the tribes resisted European-American encroachment.

ChaptersEuropean-American settlement

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ottawa Township, 1861 to 1910

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1861
    FoundingOttawa Township is established
  3. 1880Post officeThe Brickner post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1901Post officeThe Brickner post office closes
  6. 1908In the archiveHigh School, OTTAWA, Ohio
  7. 1908On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1910In the archiveWater works and Scene in Park, Ottawa, Ohio
By decade

Ottawa Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s6 items
High School, OTTAWA, Ohio1908High School, OTTAWA, OhioPostcardHigh School, OTTAWA, Ohio1908High School, OTTAWA, OhioPostcardHigh School, Ottawa, Ohio1909High School, Ottawa, OhioPostcardHigh School, Ottawa, Ohio1909High School, Ottawa, OhioPostcardWater works and Scene in Park, Ottawa, Ohio1910Water works and Scene in Park, Ottawa, OhioPostcardWater works and Scene in Park, Ottawa, Ohio1910Water works and Scene in Park, Ottawa, OhioPostcard
1920s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

High School, OTTAWA, Ohio
Retake this viewHigh School, OTTAWA, Ohio, 1908

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Ottawa Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Ottawa Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5001850190019502000Peak: 4,460

Between 104 and 4,460 people in every census since 1850.

17 censuses, 1850–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ottawa Township’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
New Cleveland
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ottawa Township
Holy FamilyRiley Creek

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

Help out

Finish Ottawa Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHigh School, OTTAWA, Ohio: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Blanchard Township1 historic placeA+Greensburg TownshipIts storyC+Pleasant Township1 historic placeA−Liberty TownshipIts storyBRiley Township1 historic placeA

Questions about Ottawa Township’s history

What year was Ottawa Township founded?

In 1861, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Ottawa Township’s post office opened in 1839, and the census of 1850 counted 104 people here.

How does Ottawa Township rank for history?

Ottawa Township is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #536 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.

How old are the homes in Ottawa Township?

17% of Ottawa Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1975.

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 (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.