Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Elmwood Place. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1912 on and old-book passages.
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Union Township is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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 Union Township’s 39.0 sits above most of its state (87% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Union Township’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Union Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Union Township is one of the fourteen townships of Union County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 1,710 people in the township, 807 of whom lived in the village of Milford Center.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,763 to 1,710 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Union Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
This brings us in the history of the early settlers of Union Township to the period of the "Post Road Settlement," between Pleasant Valley and Irwin Station, which was made in 1813-14. Concerning this settlement, in April, 1882, was published an article written by John F. Sabine, of Marysville, in the Marysville Tribune, from which we extract the following: "In giving a history of the first settlement of the southern portion of Union County, I will have to go back to the beginning of this centu.ry. At this time great inducements were held ou.t to the people of the States to form settle-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
At a Fourth of July celebration at Bridgeport, Union Township, in 1847 or 1848, Mortimer Tucker had his hand torn off above the wrist, and Robert Simpson had his arm torn oil' near his shoulder in firing this gun. At Marysville, on the Kith day of September, 1850. on the occasion of a political meeting of the Fillmore party, the gun was being fired, and by a premature discharge. Daniel Bropbj' and Archibald Turner were killed and Joseph G. Hawkins, the thumber, had his thumb torn off.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
At a Fourth of July celebration at Bridgeport, Union Township, in 1847 or 1848, Mortimer Tucker had his hand torn oflf above the wrist, and Robert Simpson bad his arm torn off near his shoulder in firing this gun. At Marysville, on the IGth day of September, 1856. on the occasion of a political meeting of the Fillmore party, the gun was being fired, and by a premature discharge, Daniel Brophy and Archibald Turner were killed and Joseph G. Hawkins, the thumber, had his thumb torn off.
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Union Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Nobody well known was born in Union Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Union Township is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns. 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.
One place: the Elmwood Place (listed 1979).
47% of Union Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.4 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1952.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
c. 1912
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