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History · Washington Township

21% of Washington Township’s homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Knowlton Covered Bridge. Below: maps from 1980 on.

1on the National Register
21%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.

Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Washington Township, and 4 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Washington Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

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

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

Rinard Mills
1868–1992
Way
1886–1912
Cline
1904–1911
Graham
1904–1916
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ClineGrahamRinard MillsWay
Gone or out of use
Cline Post Officepost officeGraham Post Officepost officeWay Post Officepost office
11cemeteries and burying grounds inside Washington Township
DoughertyHenthornKnowltonLampingLow GapMannMerrell RidgePleasant RidgeRinard MillsScottSmith

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

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
The story so far

Washington Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Washington Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Washington Township is one of the eighteen townships of Monroe County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 429, including 70 people in the village of Graysville.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 511 to 429 (-16%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Washington Township, 1868 to 1992

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868Post officeThe Rinard Mills post office opens
  3. 1886Post officeThe Way post office opens
  4. 1887BuiltKnowlton Covered Bridge is built
  5. 20th century
  6. 1904Post officeThe Cline post office opens
  7. 1911Post officeThe Cline post office closes
  8. 1912Post officeThe Way post office closes
  9. 1980On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1992Post officeThe Rinard Mills post office closes
By decade

Washington Township, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Map of Monroe County Ohio Highlighting Washington Township2015Map of Monroe County Ohio Highlighting Washington Tow…MapOHMap-doton-Rinard Mills2007OHMap-doton-Rinard Mills
On the map

Washington Township on the map in 1980

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Washington Township.

Washington Township on the 1980 USGS map1980Senecaville Lake sheet · 1:100,000

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Washington Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Knowlton Covered Bridge
Knowlton Covered Bridge, built 1887
Structures
Knowlton Covered BridgeBuilt 1887

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Washington Township

Nobody well known was born in Washington Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Bill BollingAmerican politician · b. 1957
Mark FunkhouserAmerican mayor · b. 1949
William Gladstone SteelCrater Lake promoter and mail carrier · b. 1854
Sad Sam JonesAmerican baseball player · b. 1892
Sophie Naylor GrubbAmerican activist, writer · b. 1834
Donald GwinnAmerican hammer thrower · b. 1902
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Bethel TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWayne TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFranklin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Washington Township’s history

What is on the National Register in Washington Township?

One place: the Knowlton Covered Bridge (listed 1980).

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 Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.