Shiloh was platted in September 1852 at the junction of the Sandusky and Mansfield Railroad, the Cleveland and Columbus Railroad, and a road between the cities of Tiffin and Wooster. It was originally named "Salem Station" because of its proximity to the village of Salem, which ceased to exist soon after the newer community was founded. In 1862, the name was changed to "Shiloh", but the reasons for the change are unclear: in 1908, some local citizens testified that it was named in honor of the Battle of Shiloh, a Civil War battle fought in 1862, while others stated that it was given in memory of the biblical Shiloh. In 1874, Shiloh was incorporated as a village. Two railroads provided substantial commerce by the end of the century, and natural gas deposits supplied the village with its energy needs and small amounts of gas for export to surrounding communities.
Peaked at 857 in 1980; 619 people lived here in 2020.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Shiloh’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Shiloh in 1880
Passages that mention Shiloh, cut from the printed page as they were published.
history of richland county ohio1880 · page 409Read the page →
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Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railroad camethrough Cass, a village was laid out on Aaron Pettits farm, half a mile north of the present town of Shiloh, on the railroad, and called Salem Station. The would-be town of Salem was a mile away, and was henceforth called Old Salem, while the station was frequently called New Salem, to distinguish it from the
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History of Richland County, Ohio1880 · page 411Read the page →
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Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railroad came through Cass, a village was laid out on Aaron Pettit's farm, half a mile north of the present town of Shiloh, on the railroad, and called Salem Station. The would-l^e town of Salem was a mile away, and was henceforth called Old Salem, while the station was frequently called New Salem, to distinguish it from the
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history of richland county ohio1880 · page 864Read the page →
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Plymouth ; was born in .Cayuga Co., N. Y., in 1820; moved to Plymouth Township in 1824; the family first settled near where the village of Shiloh now stands; they lived in an old log schoolhouse; in October, they moved into their own house, where Mr. Bevier spent most of his life to the time of his marriage, which occurred in 1845; his lady’s name was Miss Cornelia Brinkerhoff, of New Haven Township, Huron Co.; in 1846, they
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History of Richland County, Ohio1880 · page 409Read the page →
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frame erected which cost $1,625. When the railroad (Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis) came through the township in 1850, and the town of Shiloh began to gi'ow, the Methodists proposed building a church in that place, and the old one was neglected. It was finally sold, in 1874, to Wesley McLaughlin, for $300, who, in turn, sold it to the Dunk-
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Shiloh, 1833 to 1980
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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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