On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Smith Township is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #37 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.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Smith 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 Smith Township’s 29.5 sits above most of its state (84% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 12 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% 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 (±7.1 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 Smith 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
Another post office, Snodes, opened and closed inside today’s town.
North Benton
1835–today
Snodes
1886–1915
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Alden ParkAlliance JunctionEast AllianceMaple RidgeNorth BentonSnodesTecumseh Village Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Peru SchoolschoolSnodes Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Smith Township
Alliance JewishNorth Benton
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Smith Township on the map, 1909 to 1994
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Smith Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1909Alliance 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 Smith Township.
The story so far
Smith Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Smith Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Smith Township is one of the fourteen townships of Mahoning County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 4,097 people in the township.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 4,510 to 4,097 (-9%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Smith Township, 1835 to 1915
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Smith Township is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #37 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.
What is on the National Register in Smith Township?
One place: the Alliance Clay Product Company (listed 1978).
How old are the homes in Smith Township?
38% of Smith Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1955.
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 (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.