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AHistory
History · Trimble Township

Trimble Township’s post office opened in 1839, and 43% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns · #192 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Palos Covered Bridge. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1961 on, and the census since 1870.

1839first post office
1on the National Register
43%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Trimble Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Trimble Township began

When was Trimble Township founded?

1839

The Trimble Township post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name. Seven smaller post offices, Hartleyville (1851), Derthick (1886) and Burroak (1887), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 81 in 18702020 census: 4,041187 years

How historic is Trimble Township?

A

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Trimble Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Trimble Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Trimble Township is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #192 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 Trimble Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1839, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194042.9% of homes (±8.0) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%A+National Register1 listing, 2.5 per 10,000 residents · typical OH town 2.9 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 87%
NewerOlder
Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 81%

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 Trimble Township’s 2.5 sits near the middle of its state (54% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.0 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 Trimble Township’s past

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

Lost villages7 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Trimble Township, and 13 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 806 in 1920; 329 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Trimble Township’s homes were built before 1947.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

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

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

Hartleyville
1851–1893
Derthick
1886–1909
Burroak
1887–1911
Hollister
1887–1952
Oakdale
1888–1906
Olbers
1891–1906
Modoc
1901–1906
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Burr OakDerthickGoose RunGreens RunHartleyvilleHollisterHunterdonMcLeishModocOakdaleOlbersPalosRedtown
Gone or out of use
Buckingham Mine Number 2mineHartleyville Post Officepost officeHollister Post Officepost officeModoc Post Officepost officeOakdale Post Officepost officeOlbers Post Officepost office
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Trimble Township
Bethel RidgeBishopvilleGlousterJohnsonLefeverMaplewoodTaylor Ridge

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

Help out

Start Trimble Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Descri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Trimble Township, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 806

Peaked at 806 in 1920; 329 people lived here in 2020.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

The story

How Trimble Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Trimble Township.

Read it all →

Trimble was originally called Oxford when it was platted in the early 1800s. It was later renamed Trimble in honor of Governor Allen Trimble. A post office named Trimble has been continuously operating since 1839.

Like many nearby villages, Trimble grew as a coal-mining community during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, centered along Sunday Creek.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Trimble Township, 1850 to 1961

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Ohio - Athens County - ED 5-25, ED 5-26, …
  3. 1851Post officeThe Hartleyville post office opens
  4. 1876BuiltPalos Covered Bridge is built
  5. 1886Post officeThe Derthick post office opens
  6. 1887Post officeThe Burroak post office opens
  7. 1893Post officeThe Hartleyville post office closes
  8. 20th century
  9. 1909Post officeThe Derthick post office closes
  10. 1911Post officeThe Burroak post office closes
  11. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 806
  12. 1961On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Trimble Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1850s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s1 item
1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Ohio - Athens County - ED 5-25, ED 5-26, ED 5-27, ED 5-28, ED 5-2918501940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Ohio …
Date unknown2 to date
Aerial view of Trimble Brick Plant and Hisylvania No. 23 Mine, Trimble, Athens County, Ohio, circa 1890-1925 - DPLA - 9…Date?Aerial view of Trimble Brick Plant and Hisylvania No.…Aerial view of Trimble Brick Plant and Hisylvania No. 23 Mine, Trimble, Athens County, Ohio, circa 1890-1925 - DPLA - 9…Date?Aerial view of Trimble Brick Plant and Hisylvania No.…
Today5 recent
Trimble municipal building from northwest2016Trimble municipal building from northwestNorthern Trimble houses on State Route 132016Northern Trimble houses on State Route 13Map of Athens County Ohio Highlighting Trimble Village2015Map of Athens County Ohio Highlighting Trimble VillageMapTrimble ohio2010Trimble ohioOHMap-doton-Jacksonville-Trimble2004OHMap-doton-Jacksonville-Trimble
On the map

Trimble Township on the map, 1961 to 2002

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

Trimble Township on the 1961 USGS mapTrimble Township on the 1975 USGS mapTrimble Township on the 2002 USGS map1961Corning sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Trimble Township.

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.

1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Ohio - Athens County - ED 5-25, ED 5-26, ED 5-27, ED 5-28, ED 5-29
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Ohio - Athens County - ED 5-25, ED 5-26, ED 5-27, ED 5-28, ED 5-29, 1850

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Trimble Township

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
Palos Covered Bridge
Palos Covered Bridge, built 1876
Structures
Palos Covered BridgeBuilt 1876

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Dover Township5 historic placesAMonroe TownshipIts storyBWard TownshipIts storyC+Homer TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Trimble Township’s history

What year was Trimble Township founded?

The Trimble Township post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Trimble Township rank for history?

Trimble Township is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #192 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 Trimble Township?

One place: the Palos Covered Bridge (listed 1977).

How old are the homes in Trimble Township?

43% of Trimble Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.0 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1947.

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 (8), 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.