On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pike Township is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #419 of 993 in Ohio. 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 Pike Township’s overall grade.
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 Pike Township’s 2.6 sits near the middle of its state (55% 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 (±5.3 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 Pike Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Howenstine
1882–1909
Battlesburg
1894–1902
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BattlesburgCanton Mobile HomesFohl VillageHowenstine
Gone or out of use
Battlesburg Post Officepost officeBriggs AirportairportGreen Ridge SchoolschoolGuest SchoolschoolHowenstine Post Officepost officeMelsheimer SchoolschoolOak Grove SchoolschoolPleasant Hill Schoolschool
8cemeteries and burying grounds inside Pike Township
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Pike Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Pike Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Pike Township is one of the seventeen townships of Stark County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 3,818 people in the township, 3,069 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 3,961 to 3,818 (-4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Pike Township in 1916
Passages that mention Pike Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A standard history of Stark County, Ohio1916 · page 524Read the page →
Read the text
The people of Pike Township are generally thrifty and intelligent, taking an active interest in their public schools. The Village of Sparta has a good modern school building recently erected, and the course of study includes a three-year high school course. As evidence of the patriotic spirit of the people of Pike Township, we quote from a historic pamphlet by Jacob Smith: “Pike was one of the few townships, not only in the county, but in the state, that filled every quota during civil war without a draft, and kept ahead of every call for troops. When
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A standard history of Stark County, Ohio1916 · page 658Read the page →
Read the text
Jeremiah Steiner continued his residence in his native commonwealth until 1853, when he came to Ohio and numbered himself among the substantial young agriculturists of Stark County. He obtained a farm two miles west of the Village of East Sparta, Pike Township, and he continued his active and successful operations as a farmer and stock grower of that township until 1908, from w'hich time he lived virtually retired in the City of Canton until his death, June 15, 1915. His life was one of signal rectitude and industry, he achieved independence and
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.
Timeline
Pike Township, 1882 to 1912
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pike Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1912Dover 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 Pike Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Pike 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
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Pike Township, census by census
Between 883 and 4,088 people in every census since 1820.
20 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Pike Township’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
Famous people close to Pike Township
Nobody well known was born in Pike Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Pike Township is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #419 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 Pike Township?
20% of Pike Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 (3), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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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