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The Fountain Hotel in St. MarysPhoto: Nyttend · Public domain
AHistory
History · St. Marys Township

St. Marys Township dates to 1823, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 89% of U.S. towns · #166 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it

3 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1911 on, and the census since 1840.

1823founded
3on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
11old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From St. Marys Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How St. Marys Township began

When was St. Marys Township founded?

1823

St. Marys Township dates its founding to 1823 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1840.

First census: 92 in 18402020 census: 11,093203 years

How historic is St. Marys Township?

A

More historic than 89% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1825.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives St. Marys Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, St. Marys Township is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #166 of 993 in Ohio. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of St. Marys Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1823, from Wikipedia: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194035.3% of homes (±4.9) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register3 listings, 4 historic buildings, 3.6 per 10,000 residents · typical OH town 2.9 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 89%
NewerOlder
Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 83%

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. Marys Township’s 3.6 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.9 points). Two sources give 1823.

Founding year: Wikipedia (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. Marys Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages10 hamlets and corners are still on the map.On the map since 19115 editions of the USGS map, 1911 to 1982. Watch St. Marys Township change.Deep rootsEstablished in 1823: 203 years of St. Marys Township.Old housesHalf of St. Marys Township’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Barlage Trailer ParkBreezewoodBulkheadColumbia Estates Mobile Home ParkHarmons LandingParker Shady Acres Mobile Home ParkSandy BeachSouth Shore AcresSouthmoor ShoresVilla Nova
Gone or out of use
Berghorn SchoolschoolBosche SchoolschoolCarter Creek SchoolschoolFerguson SchoolschoolFullreid SchoolschoolHutchison SchoolschoolKopp SchoolschoolLiberty Chapelchurch

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the map

St. Marys Township on the map, 1911 to 1982

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of St. Marys Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

St. Marys Township on the 1911 USGS mapSt. Marys Township on the 1944 USGS mapSt. Marys Township on the 1960 USGS mapSt. Marys Township on the 1973 USGS mapSt. Marys Township on the 1982 USGS map1911Spencerville 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. Marys Township.

Timeline

St. Marys Township, 1823 to 1911

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1823
    FoundingSt. Marys Township is established
  3. 20th century
  4. 1907In the archiveEast bank, St. Mary's reservoir
  5. 1911In the archiveComrades Who Will Control the City Government of St. Marys, Ohio, for the Next Two Years …
  6. 1911On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How St. Marys Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of St. Marys Township.

Read it all →

After the Revolutionary War, the Shawnee village on the site became known as Girty's Town for the Indian traders James and Simon Girty, who had a trading post on the site. James Girty was originally a partner of Peter Loramie, but fled to the St. Marys River when Loramie's trading post was burned in 1782. Girty maintained his trading post between 1783 and 1790 and fled when General Harmar's army approached. He later returned to the post. When General Anthony Wayne approached the St. Marys area in 1794, James Girty packed up his goods and fled to Canada, thus ending the Girty Brothers era in Ohio. The village retained the name until the modern town was founded in 1823.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

St. Marys Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s8 items
East bank, St. Mary's reservoir1907East bank, St. Mary's reservoirPostcardEast bank, St. Mary's reservoir1907East bank, St. Mary's reservoirPostcardM. E. Church1908M. E. ChurchPostcardM. E. Church1908M. E. ChurchSt. Marys Reservoir1908St. Marys ReservoirPostcardSt. Marys Reservoir1908St. Marys ReservoirPostcardCatholic Church1909Catholic ChurchPostcardCatholic Church1909Catholic ChurchPostcard
1910s3 items
Comrades Who Will Control the City Government of St. Marys, Ohio, for the Next Two Years Edit1911Comrades Who Will Control the City Government of St. …Comrades Who Will Control the City Government of St. Marys, Ohio, for the Next Two Years1911Comrades Who Will Control the City Government of St. …St. Marys Busy Section1914St. Marys Busy Section
1920s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today1 recent
Smohl132013Smohl13
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

East bank, St. Mary's reservoir
Retake this viewEast bank, St. Mary's reservoir, 1907

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on St. Marys Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in St. Marys Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

St. Marys Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,0001850190019502000Peak: 8,441

Between 92 and 8,441 people in every census since 1840.

19 censuses, 1840–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on St. Marys Township’s Wikipedia page.

Help out

Finish St. Marys Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewEast bank, St. Mary's reservoir: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Noble TownshipIts storyC+Franklin TownshipIts storyC−Washington Township1 historic placeAGerman Township3 historic placesASt. Marys3 historic placesA

Questions about St. Marys Township’s history

What year was St. Marys Township founded?

In 1823, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. St. Marys Township’s post office opened in 1825, and the census of 1840 counted 92 people here.

How does St. Marys Township rank for history?

St. Marys Township is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #166 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. Marys Township?

35% of St. Marys Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1956.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.