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A−History
History · Piketon

Piketon’s post office opened in 1816, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 83% of U.S. towns. What drives it

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 32 buildings. Below: maps from 1896 on and the census since 1820.

1816first post office
1on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Piketon began

When was Piketon founded?

1816

The Piketon post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 275 in 18202020 census: 2,111210 years

How historic is Piketon?

A−

More historic than 83% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Piketon post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Piketon’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Piketon is more historic than 83% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Piketon’s overall grade.
Founding era1816, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194010.4% of homes (±6.4) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 32 historic buildings, 140 per 10,000 residents · typical OH town 2.9 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 83%
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 Piketon’s 140 sits above most of its state (95% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 32 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (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 Piketon’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 Piketon are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1890 and 1900, then grew 3-fold.A historic districtThe Piketon Historic District takes in 32 historic buildings.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1896 to 1921, drew every building in Piketon.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Piketon’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Piketon’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
People over time

Piketon, census by census

05001,0001,5002,00018501900195020001,022 in 1890Low: 625

Lost a third of its people between 1890 and 1900, then grew 3-fold.

21 censuses, 1820–2020.

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

On the National Register

1 listing protects 32 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
32
each building in a district counts
first listed
1974
Piketon Historic District
Piketon Historic District
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Federal1
Greek Revival1
Vernacular1
All 1 listings
Piketon Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1974

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

The story

How Piketon came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Piketon.

Read it all →

Originally called Jefferson, Piketon was the county seat of Pike County from 1815 to 1845, when James Emmitt, a wealthy local entrepreneur, influenced the transfer of the county seat to Waverly, due to its closer proximity to the then-new Ohio & Erie Canal. Piketon is the location of the Pike County Fairgrounds and is served by the Scioto Valley Local School District.

Perhaps the best-known historic resident of Piketon was Robert Lucas, the twelfth governor of Ohio and first territorial governor of Iowa. Around 1824, Lucas built a large brick house two miles east of Piketon, named Friendly Grove, which became a center of local political activity.

Piketon is served by the Western and Piketon branches of the Garnet A. Wilson Public Library.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Piketon, 1816 to 2010

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1816Born hereEliza Daniel Stewart is born here
  3. 1816Post officeThe Piketon post office opens
  4. 1877Born hereWiley Dunham is born here
  5. 1881Born hereJohn Kenneth Caldwell is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1915On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 21st century
  9. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 2,181
By decade

Piketon, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Night Train2007Night TrainHouse of Four Chimneys and Three Porches2005House of Four Chimneys and Three PorchesRhubarb - Flickr - dok12004Rhubarb - Flickr - dok1Overgrown and Obsolete2004Overgrown and ObsoleteOHMap-doton-Piketon2004OHMap-doton-PiketonNight Train2003Night Train
On the map

Piketon on the map, 1915 to 1974

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

Piketon on the 1915 USGS mapPiketon on the 1944 USGS mapPiketon on the 1961 USGS mapPiketon on the 1974 USGS map1915Piketon 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 Piketon.

Every building

Piketon, building by building, 1896–1921

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Piketon fire insurance map, 1896, sheet 11896Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Piketon

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
John Kenneth CaldwellAmerican diplomat · b. 1881
W
Wiley DunhamAmerican baseball player · b. 1877
Eliza Daniel StewartBritish activist · b. 1816
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Piketon’s post office has been open since 1816.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Riverview Mobile Home Park
1cemetery inside Piketon
Rittenour

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Seal Township3 historic placesA−Pee Pee Township1 historic placeB+

Questions about Piketon’s history

What year was Piketon founded?

The Piketon post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Piketon rank for history?

Piketon is more historic than 83% 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 Piketon?

One place: the Piketon Historic District (listed 1974).

How old are the homes in Piketon?

10% of Piketon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.4 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1980.

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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.