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History · Paulding Township

Paulding Township dates to 1848, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

3 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1914 on and the census since 1880.

1848founded
3on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Myself · CC BY 2.5
Quick answers

How Paulding Township began

When was Paulding Township founded?

1848

Paulding Township dates its founding to 1848 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 454 in 18802020 census: 3,878178 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1851.The full story ↓

What stands out about Paulding Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Paulding Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Paulding Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsEstablished in 1848: 178 years of Paulding Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Paulding Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Paulding Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
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.

Worstville
1882–1904
Briceton
1887–1933
Arena
1892–1902
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ArenaBricetonWorstville
Gone or out of use
Arena Post Officepost officeBriceton Post Officepost officeBriceton SchoolschoolHardesty SchoolschoolMcDonald SchoolschoolMount Carmel ChurchchurchSchool Number 1schoolSchool Number 6schoolSchool Number 8schoolSchool Number 9schoolStrabele AirportairportSunnyside SchoolschoolWorstvillePost Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Paulding Township
CooperSaint Pauls

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

Timeline

Paulding Township, 1848 to 1933

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1848
    FoundingPaulding Township is established
  3. 1882Post officeThe Worstville post office opens
  4. 1887Post officeThe Briceton post office opens
  5. 1892Post officeThe Arena post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1902Post officeThe Arena post office closes
  8. 1904Post officeThe Worstville post office closes
  9. 1914On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1933Post officeThe Briceton post office closes
The story

How Paulding Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Paulding Township.

Read it all →

Paulding was a planned community, founded in 1848 at the center of the county, and named after the county by speculators who expected to profit by moving the county seat. In 1851, the county seat was moved from Charloe, which had been the county seat for a decade; prior to that, court was held at New Rochester.

The town square is devoted to the courthouse, an orange brick structure surrounded by trees upon a spacious lawn. In the centennial year of 1876, the county commissioners determined to build a new courthouse, and visited many courthouses, finally deciding to erect a duplicate of the courthouse in Adrian, Michigan at a cost of $40,000. The courthouse was finished in 1886.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Paulding Township, decade by decade

Today18 recent
USDA Helps NW Ohio Farm Save on Energy with REAP Grant (20240417-USDA-RD-OH-MLM-0006)2024USDA Helps NW Ohio Farm Save on Energy with REAP Gran…USDA Helps NW Ohio Farm Save on Energy with REAP Grant (20240417-USDA-RD-OH-MLM-0005)2024USDA Helps NW Ohio Farm Save on Energy with REAP Gran…USDA Helps NW Ohio Farm Save on Energy with REAP Grant (20240417-USDA-RD-OH-MLM-0004)2024USDA Helps NW Ohio Farm Save on Energy with REAP Gran…USDA Helps NW Ohio Farm Save on Energy with REAP Grant (20240417-USDA-RD-OH-MLM-0003)2024USDA Helps NW Ohio Farm Save on Energy with REAP Gran…USDA Helps NW Ohio Farm Save on Energy with REAP Grant (20240417-USDA-RD-OH-MLM-0002)2024USDA Helps NW Ohio Farm Save on Energy with REAP Gran…USDA Helps NW Ohio Farm Save on Energy with REAP Grant (20240417-USDA-RD-OH-MLM-0001)2024USDA Helps NW Ohio Farm Save on Energy with REAP Gran…Charles Umlauf Industries2023Charles Umlauf IndustriesFlatrock Creek2022Flatrock CreekMap of Paulding County Ohio Highlighting Paulding Village2015Map of Paulding County Ohio Highlighting Paulding Vil…MapVillage Hall in2012Village Hall inPaulding, Ohio2012Paulding, OhioPaulding United Methodist Church2011Paulding United Methodist ChurchHouse of Love Ministries, 220 North Williams Street2011House of Love Ministries, 220 North Williams StreetSouthern side of Courthouse Square in downtown2010Southern side of Courthouse Square in downtownEastern side of Courthouse Square in downtown2010Eastern side of Courthouse Square in downtownParts of a pig2007Parts of a pigPauldingOHSchool2006PauldingOHSchoolOHMap-doton-Paulding2004OHMap-doton-Paulding
On the map

Paulding Township on the map, 1914 to 1944

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

Paulding Township on the 1914 USGS mapPaulding Township on the 1944 USGS map1914Paulding 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 Paulding Township.

On the National Register

3 listings protect 48 historic buildings

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
48
each building in a district counts

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

People over time

Paulding Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 3,605

Between 454 and 3,605 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Jackson TownshipIts storyB−Harrison TownshipIts storyB+Blue Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPaulding3 historic placesACrane TownshipIts storyCEmerald TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Paulding Township’s history

What year was Paulding Township founded?

In 1848, according to Wikidata. Paulding Township’s post office opened in 1851, and the census of 1880 counted 454 people here.

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (18), 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.