On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Worthington Township is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #329 of 993 in Ohio. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Worthington 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 Worthington Township’s 3.3 sits near the middle of its state (58% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±6.0 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 Worthington Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Worthington Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1912Perrysville 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 Worthington Township.
The story so far
Worthington Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Worthington Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Worthington Township is one of the eighteen townships of Richland County, Ohio, United States. It is a part of the Mansfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. The 2020 census found 2,988 people in the township.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,868 to 2,988 (+4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Worthington Township in 1880
Passages that mention Worthington Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
history of richland county ohio1880 · page 451Read the page →
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Andrews in 1873, signed by nine old citizens of Worthington Township. “* We have been neighbors, and have known James Cunningham and- Margaret Cunningham, of Worthington Township. Richland County, for the thirty-five or forty years last past, and we have heard them both tell at different times, that their daughter Matilda was the first white child born in the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Richland County, Ohio1880 · page 238Read the page →
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number of his kinsmen followed, and constituted quite a settlement of Hills in this neighborhood. Samuel Lewis settled in the northern part of Worthington Township, and afterward erected the ''Lewis block-house"' on his premises. Settlements were also made in Green Township, in what is now Ashland County, and in Mifflin Township, within the present limits
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
history of richland county ohio1880 · page 545Read the page →
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The earliest settlers in Monroe went to Fredericktown and Mount Vernon for their grinding, and afterward to Herring’s mill at Newville, in Worthington Township. Peter Zuby has the honor of erecting the first mill in Monroe, about a mile east of the present village of Lucas, on Rocky Fork, in 1820. It was a “little choppin’ mill,” as the old settlers
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
Worthington Township, 1830 to 1912
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, Newville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Newville
Gone or out of use
Black Swamp SchoolschoolNewville Post Officepost officeOak Hall SchoolschoolPleasant Valley SchoolschoolSchool Number 1schoolSchool Number 4schoolSchool Number 7schoolWhite Hall Schoolschool
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Worthington Township
Worthington Township is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #329 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 Worthington Township?
One place: the Rummell Mill (listed 1982).
How old are the homes in Worthington Township?
27% of Worthington Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1973.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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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