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Sugarcreek Cuckoo ClockPhoto: Kreuzfeld · CC BY-SA 4.0
AHistory
History · Sugarcreek Township

Sugarcreek Township dates to 1814, and 40% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 94% of U.S. towns · #85 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it

4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1914 on, and the census since 1900.

1814founded
4on the National Register
40%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Sugarcreek Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Sugarcreek Township began

When was Sugarcreek Township founded?

1814

Sugarcreek Township dates its founding to 1814 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1900.

First census: 243 in 19002020 census: 6,547212 years

How historic is Sugarcreek Township?

A

More historic than 94% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1836.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Sugarcreek Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sugarcreek Township is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #85 of 993 in Ohio. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Sugarcreek Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1814, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194040.3% of homes (±6.2) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register4 listings, 8 historic buildings, 12.3 per 10,000 residents · typical OH town 2.9 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 94%
NewerOlder
Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 92%

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 Sugarcreek Township’s 12.3 sits above most of its state (77% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1814.
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 (±6.2 points).

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Sugarcreek Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Sugarcreek Township, and 5 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19145 editions of the USGS map, 1914 to 1994. Watch Sugarcreek Township change.Old housesHalf of Sugarcreek Township’s homes were built before 1954.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sugarcreek Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sugarcreek Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewOhio central rr: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Justus
1874–1964
Elton
1883–1902
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
CrossroadsEltonHarmonJustusPlainsburg
Gone or out of use
Bose ChapelchurchCentral SchoolschoolCrossroads SchoolschoolElton Post Officepost officeGoshen SchoolschoolJustus Post Officepost officeMcFarren SchoolschoolSwan SchoolschoolWeimer Schoolschool
10cemeteries and burying grounds inside Sugarcreek Township
BaptistBoseCross RoadsDietrickGermanGreen LawnMcFarrenOld WilmotWeimerWelty

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the map

Sugarcreek Township on the map, 1914 to 1994

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

Sugarcreek Township on the 1914 USGS mapSugarcreek Township on the 1944 USGS mapSugarcreek Township on the 1961 USGS mapSugarcreek Township on the 1971 USGS mapSugarcreek Township on the 1994 USGS map1914Navarre 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 Sugarcreek Township.

The story

How Sugarcreek Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Sugarcreek Township.

Read it all →

Sugarcreek's historical beginnings were rooted in cheese production. Swiss immigrants arrived in the early 1830s and used the milk from Amish dairy farms to produce their cheese. In the 1950s they created an annual Ohio Swiss Festival; the success of early festivals as an attraction for tourists resulted in local business leaders transforming the town into a Swiss village starting in 1965. By the early 1970s the first tourist-oriented businesses were opening, and the tourism industry in Sugarcreek was centered not only around the Amish but also around a steam engine passenger train operated by the Ohio Central Railroad which ran between Sugarcreek and Baltic until 2004. Since the train stopped running, tourism in Sugarcreek has decreased. Trollinger theorizes that unlike Walnut Creek and Berlin, which support a nostalgia that reassures tourists that what they are nostalgic for still exi…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Sugarcreek Township, 1814 to 1993

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1814
    FoundingSugarcreek Township is established
  3. 1874Post officeThe Justus post office opens
  4. 1883Post officeThe Elton post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1902Post officeThe Elton post office closes
  7. 1914On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1964Post officeThe Justus post office closes
  9. 1993In the archiveOhio central rr
By decade

Sugarcreek Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1990s1 item
Ohio central rr1993Ohio central rr
Today5 recent
Ohio - Sugarcreek2007Ohio - SugarcreekOhio - Sugarcreek 22007Ohio - Sugarcreek 2Ohio - Sugarcreek (cropped)2007Ohio - Sugarcreek (cropped)Ohio central2006Ohio centralOHMap-doton-Sugarcreek2004OHMap-doton-Sugarcreek
On the National Register

4 historic places in Sugarcreek Township

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
8
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Emanuel and Frederick Serquet Farm
Emanuel and Frederick Serquet Farm
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Italianate1
Victorian Gothic1
Emanuel and Frederick Serquet FarmItalianate

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

People over time

Sugarcreek Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,50019001920194019601980200020202,373

Grew from 243 people in 1900 to 2,373 in 2020, 9 times over.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Bethlehem Township4 historic placesATuscarawas TownshipIts storyB−Paint TownshipIts storyBWayne TownshipIts storyB

Questions about Sugarcreek Township’s history

What year was Sugarcreek Township founded?

In 1814, according to Wikidata. Sugarcreek Township’s post office opened in 1836, and the census of 1900 counted 243 people here.

How does Sugarcreek Township rank for history?

Sugarcreek Township is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #85 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 Sugarcreek Township?

4 listings: 1 building, among them the Emanuel and Frederick Serquet Farm (listed 1982, the first). 8 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Sugarcreek Township?

40% of Sugarcreek Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1954.

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 (6), 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) 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.