The story
Read it all →How Polk came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Polk.
Polk was laid out in 1849. A post office called Polk has been in operation since 1846.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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History · Polk
Polk’s post office opened in 1846, and 69% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1906 on and the census since 1880.
1846first post office
0on the National Register
69%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Quick answers
How Polk began
When was Polk founded?
1846
The Polk post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1849.
First census: 335 in 18802020 census: 310180 years
Founding year: the first Polk post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1849.The full story ↓
What stands out about Polk’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 Polk are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Polk’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 435 in 1970; 310 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19063 editions of the USGS map, 1906 to 1978. Watch Polk change.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Polk’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Polk’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Polk, census by census
Peaked at 435 in 1970; 310 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Polk’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Polk, 1863–1909
Passages that mention Polk, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Ashland County, Ohio1880Read the page →
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The German Reformed and Lutherans built a church on the present site of the village of Polk, in Jackson township, in 1830. A small congregation organized in 1827. In 1840-41, the members of Orange township withdrew, and those remaining in Jackson town erected a new church, thirty-five by forty met, half a mile west of Perrysburgh. It has about seventy-five members.
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History of Ashland County, Ohio1863 · page 478Read the page →
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of Ashland.) In 1824 Mr. Bryan removed his family to the southeast quarter of section 18, Jackson Town* ship — being the same land upon which now stands the greater part of the town of Polk. Mr. Bryan died on the 7th of February, 1848, at the age of seventy years.
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History of Ashland County, Ohio1880Read the page →
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The Polk Methodist Episcopal church was organized some time prior to 1 83 9, as a class. In that year a church was built. The congregation, at that, time, belonged to the Ashland circuit. Its leading members were the Bryans, Chilcotes, Richards, Proudfits, Ruffeurns, Gordons and Barracks. It has now about sixtyfive members.
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History of Ashland County, Ohio1909 · page 508Read the page →
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Harrison H. Owens obtained his education in the schools of Polk and when a little lad witnessed the erection of the first house in the village, the surrounding country being largely covered with timber. In early manhood he became identified with business pursuits as a carpenter and farmer and his efforts have been no unimportant factor in the work of development and improvement that has transformed this region from a wilderness into one of fertile fields and thriving
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
Polk, 1846 to 1970
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Polk, decade by decade
2016
2016
2016
2016
2015
2004On the map
Polk on the map, 1906 to 1978
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Polk. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1906West Salem sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Polk.
Famous people
See all →2 famous people were born in Polk
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Questions about Polk’s history
What year was Polk founded?
The Polk post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1849.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (6), 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 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.