Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns · #778 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1911 on, and old-book passages.
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Valley Township is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #778 of 993 in Ohio. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Valley 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.
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 Valley Township’s history is told.
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Valley Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Valley Township.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Valley Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Valley Township is one of the sixteen townships of Scioto County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census counted 3,635 people in the township.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 3,874 to 3,635 (-6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Valley Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Hezekiah Merritt was the first settler in Valley Township. He raised a crop of corn in the summer of 1796. He was the first Justice of the Peace, in Valley, (then a part of Seal), Township in 1804. Jacob Groniger came in 1798.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Hezekiah Merritt was the first settler in Valley Township. He raised a crop of corn in the summer of 1796. He was the first Justice of~the Peace, in Valley, (then a part of Seal), Township in 1804. Jacob Groniger came in 1798.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Valley Township schools are among the best in the County. It pays fair wages to its teachers and has from 8 to 10 months school. The Lucasville school is a sub-district but arrangements are made by which the principal receives better wages than the other teachers of the Township. Pupils from districts near attend the Lucasville school after finishing the shorter terms elsewhere, and the class is quite large for two or three months in the spring, in 1860, there were four organized school districts. In 1878, another was added.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Jefferson was a township prior to 1810, but the exact date of its organization is unknown. It included Valley Township until 1860, when the township was divided, the eastern part retaining the name of Jefferson and the western part becoming Valley Township. Jefferson Township was formerly part of Seal and Union Townships. i The present Jefferson Township was settled first on Long Run in the southeast corner of the township in 1808. Some of the earliest settlers were James ‘Painter’ Wilson, Joshua Tritt, J. H. Munn, James Haney, Jesse
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Ohio - Scioto County - ED 73-23, ED 73-24…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1850s. 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 Valley Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Valley Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Valley Township is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #778 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.
16% of Valley Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (6), 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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