The story
Read it all →How Russellville came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Russellville.
Russellville was laid out in 1817 by Russell Shaw, and named for him.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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History · Russellville
32% of Russellville’s homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1931 on and the census since 1850.
0on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
1famous people
What stands out about Russellville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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Start Russellville’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Russellville’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.From the old history books
What they wrote about Russellville in 1883
Passages that mention Russellville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
the history of brown county ohio1883 · page 616Read the page →
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In 1854, the town of Russellville was incorporated. and within its limits is embraced one square mile of territory. In 1855, a two-stury brick school building was erected, divided into three departments—Primary, Intermediate and High. The Primary Department is composed of pupils from six to twelve years of age, the Intermediate from twelve to fifteen and the High above the latter age. In the Primary School is taught the alphabet, the first principles of spelling, mental arithmetic, writing and reading to McGuffy’s Third Reader.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Brown County, Ohio, containing a history of the county ... general and local statistics1883 · page 616Read the page →
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In J854, the town of Russellville was incorporated, and within its limits is embraced one square mile of territory. In 1855, a two-story brick school building was erected, divided into three departments — Primary, Intermediate and High. The Primary Department is composed of pupils from six to twelve years of age, the Intermediate from twelve to fifteen and the High above the latter age. In the Primary School is taught the alphabet, the first principles of spelling, mental arithmetic, writing and reading to McGuffy’s Third Reader.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Brown County, Ohio, containing a history of the county ... general and local statistics1883 · page 620Read the page →
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The first and only town of Jefferson Township is Russellville. It was platted in 1817 by Russell Shaw, and named for him. It is situated on the southeast corner of a tract of land containing 200 acres, which he bought in 1816; it was then an unbroken forest, without a trace of civilization, except that a road passed near by in the direction of Ripley. The first sale of lots was in the autumn of 1817; the number sold was thirty-two, which brought the sum of $840. The first lot sold was purchased by Seth Gardner. The first house in the place was built by the founder of the town on Lot No. 29,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
the history of brown county ohio1883 · page 620Read the page →
Read the text
The first and only town of Jefferson Township is Russellville. It was platted in 1817 by Russell Shaw, and named for him. It is situated on the southeast corner of a tract of land containing 200 acres, which he bought in 1816; it was then an unbroken forest, without a trace of civilization, except that a road passed near by in the direction of Ripley. The first sale of lots was in the autumn of 1817; the number sold was thirty-two, which brought the sum of $840. The first lot sold was purchased by Seth Gardner. The first house in the place was built by the founder of the town on Lot No. 29,
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
Russellville, 1826 to 1931
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1826Post officeThe Russelville post office opens
- 1830
Born hereMills Gardner is born here - 20th century
- 1931
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Russellville, decade by decade
2013
2013
2012
2012
2012
2004On the map
Russellville on the map, 1931 to 1974
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Russellville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1931Higginsport 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 Russellville.
People over time
Russellville, census by census
Between 324 and 561 people in every census since 1850.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Russellville’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Russellville’s history
Memory lane
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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.