The St. Joseph Township post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Saint Joseph (1839), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 2,666187 years
How historic is St. Joseph Township?
B
More historic than 62% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first St. Joseph Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives St. Joseph Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, St. Joseph Township is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #520 of 993 in Ohio. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of St. Joseph 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 St. Joseph Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.3 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 St. Joseph 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, Saint Joseph, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
DenmarkMinaValley Springs Addition
Gone or out of use
Bethel ChurchchurchBluff Run SchoolschoolBratton SchoolschoolFish Creek SchoolschoolSchool Number 1schoolSchool Number 6schoolSchool Number 7schoolWilson Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside St. Joseph Township
ClarksvilleFarnhamThomas
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
St. Joseph Township on the map, 1914 to 1973
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of St. Joseph Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1914Bryan 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 St. Joseph Township.
The story so far
St. Joseph Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of St. Joseph Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
St. Joseph Township is one of the twelve townships of Williams County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 2,666 people in the township.
Its first post office opened in 1839. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,827 to 2,666 (-6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about St. Joseph Township in 1920
Passages that mention St. Joseph Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A standard history of Williams County, Ohio1920 · page 398Read the page →
Read the text
Charles A. Bowersox grew up at the old homestead, attended the common schools of St. Joseph Township, taught seven terms of district school there, after which he entered Otterbein University at Westerville, Ohio, taking the full classical course and graduating Bachelor of Arts, June 10, 1874. Three years later he received his Master's degree, and years after that returned to his alma mater and was acting president of the college from August, 1890, until June, 1892. Beginning August 17, 1874, for two years he was superintendent of the
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
St. Joseph Township, 1839 to 1914
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The St. Joseph Township post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does St. Joseph Township rank for history?
St. Joseph Township is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #520 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.
How old are the homes in St. Joseph Township?
21% of St. Joseph Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1966.
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 (5), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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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