Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Zaleski

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Zaleski

Zaleski’s post office opened in 1856, and 51% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Masonic Lodge #472. Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1947 on.

1856first post office
1on the National Register
51%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Zaleski’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Zaleski began

When was Zaleski founded?

1856

The Zaleski post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 230170 years
Founding year: the first Zaleski post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Zaleski’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Zaleski’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Zaleski’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewAthens County, Ohio - DPLA - 9d4dc78c0d…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Zaleski came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Zaleski.

Read it all →

The village of Zaleski was platted in 1856 and named after Peter Zaleski, a Polish-born official of the Steubenville and Indiana Railroad. It was incorporated in 1875. Zaleski developed quickly as a center of iron production and timber, anchored by its location near Hope Furnace and the Hocking Canal.

The area includes numerous prehistoric Adena earthworks, including the nearby Zaleski Mound Group.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Zaleski, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s2 items
Athens County, Ohio - DPLA - 9d4dc78c0d5322573a23575b31c97745 (page 146)1947Athens County, Ohio - DPLA - 9d4dc78c0d5322573a23575b…Athens County, Ohio1947Athens County, Ohio
1950s–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
Today4 recent
Zaleski post office2010Zaleski post officeMasonic Lodge No. 4722010Masonic Lodge No. 472Detailed map of2008Detailed map ofMapOHMap-doton-Zaleski2004OHMap-doton-Zaleski
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.

Athens County, Ohio - DPLA - 9d4dc78c0d5322573a23575b31c97745 (page 146)
Retake this viewAthens County, Ohio - DPLA - 9d4dc78c0d5322573a23575b31c97745 (page 146), 1947

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Zaleski’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Zaleski

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
2000
Masonic Lodge #472
Masonic Lodge #472
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Italianate1
Masonic Lodge #472Italianate

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Zaleski

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

See all →
Sarah Jessica ParkerAmerican actress · b. 1965
Fred Olen RayAmerican filmmaker · b. 1954
Pamela S. SoltisAmerican botanist · b. 1957
D
David Sutherland HibbardAmerican academic · b. 1868
D
Dick BatesAmerican baseball player · b. 1945
J
Jay EdwardsAmerican politician

Questions about Zaleski’s history

What year was Zaleski founded?

The Zaleski post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Zaleski?

One place: the Masonic Lodge #472 (listed 2000).

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 (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.