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Hillsgrove Covered BridgeHillsgrove Covered Bridge · Photo: Ruhrfisch · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · Hillsgrove Township

Hillsgrove Township’s post office opened in 1825, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Hillsgrove Covered Bridge. Below: maps from 1932 on.

1825first post office
1on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Hillsgrove Township began

When was Hillsgrove Township founded?

1825

The Hillsgrove Township post office opened in 1825, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Plunkett (1869) and Ogdonia (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 227201 years
Founding year: the first Hillsgrove Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Hillsgrove 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 Hillsgrove Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Hillsgrove Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1825: 201 years of Hillsgrove Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hillsgrove Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hillsgrove 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 and old corners

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

Hills Grove
1825–today
Plunkett
1869–1885
Ogdonia
1890–1893
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
HillsgroveOgdoniaPlunkett

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

Timeline

Hillsgrove Township, 1825 to 1932

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1825Post officeThe Hills Grove post office opens
  3. 1869Post officeThe Plunkett post office opens
  4. 1885Post officeThe Plunkett post office closes
  5. 1890Post officeThe Ogdonia post office opens
  6. 1893Post officeThe Ogdonia post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1932On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Hillsgrove Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hillsgrove Township.

Read it all →

The first known settler at what is now Hillsgrove was Daniel Ogden, who arrived around 1786, cleared land, and built a house and a small gristmill on the waters of Mill Creek. Ogden sold his property to John Hill, for whom the township was later named, and moved away around 1794. Hillsgrove Township was originally organized as Plunketts Creek Township when Sullivan County was established in 1847, and was renamed Hillsgrove by order of the county court in 1856.

ChaptersEarly settlementLumber eraCivilian Conservation Corps

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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.
Add from your album
On the map

Hillsgrove Township on the map, 1932 to 1995

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hillsgrove Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Hillsgrove Township on the 1932 USGS mapHillsgrove Township on the 1953 USGS mapHillsgrove Township on the 1970 USGS mapHillsgrove Township on the 1995 USGS map1932Eagles Mere 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 Hillsgrove Township.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Hillsgrove 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
1973
Hillsgrove Covered Bridge
Hillsgrove Covered Bridge
Structures

Architectural styles listings

Burr Truss1
Hillsgrove Covered BridgeBurr Truss

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Hillsgrove Township

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

See all →
J
Johnny BentAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1908
G
Garland GrangePlayer of American football · b. 1906
Joseph Marshall FrancisAmerican cleric (1862–1939); bishop of Indiana … · b. 1862
M
Melvin E. PageAmerican dentist · b. 1894
S
Sadler RogersAmerican bridge engineer · b. 1831
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Elkland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPlunketts Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFox TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townShrewsbury TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Hillsgrove Township’s history

What year was Hillsgrove Township founded?

The Hillsgrove Township post office opened in 1825, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Hillsgrove Township?

One place: the Hillsgrove Covered Bridge (listed 1973).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.