On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wayne Township is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #130 of 993 in Ohio. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Wayne Township’s overall grade.
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 Wayne Township’s 123 sits above most of its state (94% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 111 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.5 points).
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 →
What stands out about Wayne Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Mount Holly
1843–1863
Pences Mills
1867–1872
Lytle
1882–1918
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
CrosswickLytleMount Holly
Gone or out of use
College Hill SchoolschoolGreenbrier SchoolschoolHarmony Grove SchoolschoolRedoak SchoolschoolSchool Number 10schoolSkyland AirportairportSugar Grove Schoolschool
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Wayne Township
BrannockCaesars CreekLytleMiamiMount Holly
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Wayne Township on the map, 1913 to 1981
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Wayne Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1913Waynesville sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Wayne Township.
The story so far
Wayne Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Wayne Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Wayne Township is one of the eleven townships of Warren County, Ohio, United States. It is located in the northeast part of the county and includes the village of Waynesville, Ohio. The population was 8,658 at the 2020 census. Caesar Creek State Park is located in the township.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 8,180 to 8,658 (+6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Wayne Township in 1882
Passages that mention Wayne Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The History of Warren County, Ohio1882 · page 570Read the page →
Read the text
were settled, a log schoolhouse was built with narrow openings at the ei< sufficient to receive a single 8x10 glass. Among the first school-teachers w Rowland Richards, who taught in a log schoolhouse in Waynesville in 18( Joel Wright, who taught at Abijah O’Neall’s, in east Wayne Township, in 1 years 1802, 1804 and 1805; Elizabeth Wright, in 1808, and, between that a the year 1820, Joel and Allen Wright, who both taught in Waynesville; fn 1820 to 1824, Thomas Ricket taught in Waynesville: he was followed Thomas O’Brien, Horace Lathrope, Jeffrey Truman, William Butterworl
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The History of Warren County, Ohio1882 · page 555Read the page →
Read the text
strip two miles wide on the west side. On the 10th day of October, 1850, Massie Township was formed out of Wayne and Washington Townships, and, on the 11th day of June, 1851, some change was made, by which a part of Massie was restored to Wayne Township, since which time there has been no further change. The incidents attending the settlement of a new country are of particular interest to the parties, and, in after years, there is no more pleasant enjoyment than for old settlers to get together and relate the scenes through which they
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.
Timeline
Wayne Township, 1843 to 1918
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Wayne Township is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #130 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.
What is on the National Register in Wayne Township?
7 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Moses McKay House (listed 1978, the first). 111 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Wayne Township?
18% of Wayne Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1984.
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), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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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