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History · Washington Township

1 of Washington Township’s places is on the National Register

Its Register listing is the Olive Furnace. Most of Washington Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987.

1on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Washington 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 writtenNo old photos of Washington Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Washington Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Washington Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

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

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

Olive Furnace
1857–1916
Blackfork
1902–1985
Firebrick
1911–1959
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BlackforkFirebrickOlive Furnace
Gone or out of use
Firebrick Post Officepost officeOlive Furnace Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Washington Township
Union BaptistWashington

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

The story

How Washington Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Washington Township.

Read it all →

Washington Court House's first settlers appear to have been Edward Smith Sr., and his family, who emigrated from Pennsylvania in 1810. Smith and his family constructed a crude house in the thick woodlands near Paint Creek, but their efforts to clear the land were interrupted by his departure for military service in the War of 1812. Comparatively soon after returning from his martial pursuits, Smith drowned while attempting to cross a flooded creek, but his widow and 10 children survived and prospered despite the absence of their patriarch. Smith's descendants remained prominent in Fayette County for more than a century after his arrival from Pennsylvania, although many had left Washington Court House for other parts of the county. A family residence still stands on U.S. Route 62 not far outside the city's eastern boundary.

Chapters1894 riot

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Washington Township, 1857 to 1985

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Olive Furnace post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902Post officeThe Blackfork post office opens
  5. 1911Post officeThe Firebrick post office opens
  6. 1916Post officeThe Olive Furnace post office closes
  7. 1959Post officeThe Firebrick post office closes
  8. 1985Post officeThe Blackfork post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the National Register

1 historic place in Washington 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
2007
Olive Furnace
Olive Furnace
Structures

Architectural styles listings

Iron Furnace1
Olive FurnaceIron Furnace

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.

Decatur TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBloom Township1 historic placeA−Jefferson TownshipIts storyC+

Questions about Washington Township’s history

What is on the National Register in Washington Township?

One place: the Olive Furnace (listed 2007).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikidata (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.