The story
Read it all →How Vinton Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Vinton Township.
Vinton was platted in 1832. A post office called Vinton has been in operation since 1834.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Vinton Township
1 of Vinton Township’s places is on the National Register
Its Register listing is the Eakin Mill Covered Bridge. Most of Vinton Township was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1870.
1on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
What stands out about Vinton Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Vinton Township, and 5 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 407 in 1920; 224 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19054 editions of the USGS map, 1905 to 1992. Watch Vinton Township change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Eagle Furnace
Vales Mills
Oreton
Radcliff
Arbaugh
Pincher
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ArbaughOretonPincherRadcliffVales Mills
Gone or out of use
Axtel SchoolschoolCottrill SchoolschoolEagle FurnacelocaleHaggerty SchoolschoolMound SchoolschoolWhiteoak Schoolschool
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Vinton Township
ArbaughBowensGregoryMaceRadcliff
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Vinton Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Vinton Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Vinton Township, census by census
Peaked at 407 in 1920; 224 people lived here in 2020.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Vinton Township’s Wikipedia page.
Timeline
Vinton Township, 1854 to 1950
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1854Post officeThe Eagle Furnace post office opens
- 1858Post officeThe Eagle Furnace post office closes
- 1878Post officeThe Vales Mills post office opens
- 1880Post officeThe Oreton post office opens
- 20th century
- 1905
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 407
- 1938Post officeThe Vales Mills post office closes
- 1942
In the archivePhotograph of Sign on the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Cooperative Plantati… - 1950Post officeThe Oreton post office closes
By decade
Vinton Township, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1940s2 items
19421950s–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
2015
2015
2004On the map
Vinton Township on the map, 1905 to 1992
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Vinton Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1905Wilkesville sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Vinton 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.
Retake this viewPhotograph of Sign on the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Cooperative Plantation, 1942
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Vinton Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
1 historic place in Vinton 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
1976
Eakin Mill Covered Bridge
Structures
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Vinton Township
Nobody well known was born in Vinton Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Vinton Township’s history
What is on the National Register in Vinton Township?
One place: the Eakin Mill Covered Bridge (listed 1976).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (5), 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.