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OTHER COMMUNITIES
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Abbottsville
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Baker
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Beamsville
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Braffettsville
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Brock
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Coletown
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Cosmos
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Dawn
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Delise
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Fort Jefferson
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Frenchtown
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Hillgrove
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Horatio
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Hunchbargers
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Jaysville
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Nashville
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New Harrison
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North Dayton
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Otterbein
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Pikeville
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Rose Hill
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Rush’s Station
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Savona
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Stelvideo
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Sharpeye
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Webster
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Woodington
ANSONIA
HISTORY: Ansonia was founded in 1845 under the name of “Dallas.” The village initially grew slowly; significant expansion only came after the coming of a railroad in 1852. Because dense swamps hindered settlement in the vicinity,[6]:566 woodland was plentiful, and Ansonia became a center of manufacturing for hardwood products. In 1873, the residents replaced their old school with a substantial two-story building at a cost of ten thousand dollars; this building was the first home of Ansonia High School, which was founded in that year. In turn, this building was demolished and a replacement erected in 1903. Another prominent structure in the village was a mausoleum; built of marble in 1911, it was the first mausoleum in Darke County.
In its early decades, Ansonia was heavily influenced by Freemasonry. The community’s first lodge was chartered on October 21, 1874 with a membership of sixteen; in its first forty years, this lodge expanded nearly eightfold. An IOOF lodge was instituted on June 18, 1875 with sixteen members; it grew nearly sevenfold in its first forty years. Sixteen women in the community founded a chapter of the Daughters of Rebekah in 1894, and a lodge of the Knights of Pythias was also established in the village.
GEOGRAPHY: According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.81 square miles (2.10 km2), of which, 0.79 square miles (2.05 km2) is land and 0.02 square miles (0.05 km2) is water. It is approximately 6 miles north of the county seat of Greenville.
DEMOGRAPHICS: Ansonia, Ohio Demographics
ARCANUM
HISTORY: Arcanum was laid out in 1849. The railroad arrived to Arcanum in 1852. A post office has been in operation at Arcanum since 1852.
GEOGRAPHY: According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.30 square miles (3.37 km2), all of it land.
DEMOGRAPHICS: Arcanum, Ohio Demographics
BRADFORD
HISTORY: Bradford was platted in 1865 entirely within Darke County, and it incorporated in 1871. Its population was recorded at 243 by the 1870 Census. By 1890, the community had grown to 1,338 residents, the majority of whom lived in Miami County. Its growth was due to its location on the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad. At Bradford, the line from Pittsburgh split into a northern branch that went to Chicago and a southern branch that went to East St. Louis. The trains took on provisions and changed crews at Bradford, and some crew members found it a convenient place to live.
GEOGRAPHY: According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.88 square miles (2.28 km2), of which, 0.86 square miles (2.23 km2) is land and 0.02 square miles (0.05 km2) is water.
DEMOGRAPHICS: Bradford, Ohio Demographics
BURKETTSVILLE
HISTORY: Burkettsville was founded after the construction of a railroad line through northern Darke County in 1883. It was one of the last communities to be established in northern Darke or southern Mercer counties.
GEOGRAPHY: According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.18 square miles (0.47 km2), all of it land.
DEMOGRAPHICS: Burkettsville, Ohio Demographics
CASTINE
HISTORY: Castine was platted in 1832 and re-platted in the following year. Its location was chosen because it lay at the intersection of the road between Greenville and Eaton with the road between the communities of Miami County, Ohio and New Garden, Indiana. For its first few decades, the village (then known as “New Castine”) grew and prospered, but the building of the Little Miami Railroad through West Manchester, just 2 miles (3.2 km) to the south, retarded Castine’s progress. Revival came with the construction of the Cincinnati Northern Railroad in 1894.
GEOGRAPHY: According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.08 square miles (0.21 km2), all of it land.
DEMOGRAPHICS: Castine, Ohio Demographics
GETTYSBURG
HISTORY: Gettysburg was founded by natives of Adams County, Pennsylvania in the late 1820’s. When the settlement was platted in 1842, the community was named for Gettysburg, the county seat of Adams County. The community’s first church was a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, established in 1847 or 1848, while the first school was built in 1850.
GEOGRAPHY: According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.44 square miles (1.14 km2), all of it land.
DEMOGRAPHICS: Gettysburg, Ohio Demographics
GORDON
HISTORY: Gordon was platted in 1849 and named for one of its first settlers. It was located at the intersection of the Dayton and Union and Ohio Electric railroads.
GEOGRAPHY: According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.17 square miles (0.44 km2), all of it land.
DEMOGRAPHICS: Gordon, Ohio Demographics
GREENVILLE
HISTORY: Greenville is the historic location of Fort Greene Ville, a pioneer fort built under General Anthony Wayne’s command. At over 55 acres (220,000 m2) this was the largest wooden fortification ever built. It was here that the Treaty of Greenville was signed on August 3, 1795, bringing peace to the area and opening up the Northwest Territory for settlement. Fort Greene Ville was named for Wayne’s fellow General Nathanael Greene.
GEOGRAPHY: According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.66 square miles (17.25 km2), of which, 6.60 square miles (17.09 km2) is land and 0.06 square miles (0.16 km2) is water.
DEMOGRAPHICS: Greenville, Ohio Demographics
HOLLANSBURG
HISTORY: On March 28, 1838, local landowner James Stewart platted a community in northwestern Harrison Township and named it “Union.” When William Hollaman, another landowner, attempted to purchase lots in the settlement, a dispute erupted between the two men; seven months later, Hollaman attempted to avenge himself by platting another community only 1 mile (1.6 km) to the northeast of Union, to which a third landowner, Valentine Harland, quickly made additions. The new community was given the name of “Hollansburg” as a portmanteau of the owners’ names —Hollaman and Harland. Within a year, a countryside post office named “Republican” was moved to Hollansburg, and the village quickly began to outgrow Union; the two communities ultimately merged. The first church in the village, a Church of Christ, was founded in 1840, while the first school building was erected in 1848.
GEOGRAPHY: According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.12 square miles (0.31 km2), all of it land.
DEMOGRAPHICS: Hollansburg, Ohio Demographics
ITHACA
HISTORY: John Colville platted Ithaca in 1832 and gave it the name of “Twinsborough.” Its location on an established highway and along the Ohio Electric Railway caused the community to grow rapidly.
GEOGRAPHY: According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.03 square miles (0.08 km2), all of it land.
DEMOGRAPHICS: Ithaca, Ohio Demographics
NEW MADISON
HISTORY: New Madison was platted by Zadock Smith in 1817 for purposes of land speculation, but his efforts failed; he was unable to sell any of the lots. Two years later, he sold the land to Ernestus Putnam, who replatted the village and began to sell lots in 1831; unlike Smith, Putnam saw the establishment of a successful community.[6]:559 The first church in the community was a Presbyterian congregation. While the community’s first school was founded in its early years, the building was replaced by a substantial two-story structure in 1870; it in turn was replaced by a larger built in 1897.
GEOGRAPHY: According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.41 square miles (1.06 km2), all of it land.
DEMOGRAPHICS: New Madison, Ohio Demographics
NEW WESTON
HISTORY: New Weston was founded in the 1880s during the construction of a railroad line through Allen Township by a predecessor of the Cincinnati, Jackson and Mackinaw Railroad. It was one of the last communities to be founded in Darke County.
GEOGRAPHY: According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.26 square miles (0.67 km2), all of it land.
DEMOGRAPHICS: New Weston, Ohio Demographics
NORTH STAR
HISTORY: North Star was platted in 1852 along the road between Greenville and Celina, approximately midway between the two cities. Its name was derived from its location on the edge of the Great Black Swamp, as it was the northernmost point in Darke County that was not wetland.
A historic site in the village is St. Louis’ Catholic Church. Built in 1914, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
GEOGRAPHY: According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.53 square miles (1.37 km2), all of it land.
DEMOGRAPHICS: North Star, Ohio Demographics
OSGOOD
HISTORY: Osgood was founded in the 1880s. While its earliest settlers were primarily Protestants, a Roman Catholic parish was erected in the village in 1906. Today, St. Nicholas’ Catholic Church has been recognized as a historic site.
GEOGRAPHY: According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.34 square miles (0.88 km2), all of it land.
DEMOGRAPHICS: Osgood, Ohio Demographics
PALESTINE
HISTORY: Palestine was platted by Samuel Loring in 1833. It has always been a small community, although its population declined during the twentieth century; the 1910 census recorded 216 residents.
GEOGRAPHY: According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.15 square miles (0.39 km2), all of it land.[1]
DEMOGRAPHICS: Palestine, Ohio Demographics
PITSBURG
HISTORY: Pitsburg was founded under the name of “Arnettsville” in the 19th century, but it languished: an author writing in 1880 described it as “liv[ing] only in name and story.” The community revived over the next several decades; by 1914, the village included a school, a Methodist Episcopal church, multiple businesses, and over two hundred residents.
GEOGRAPHY: According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.19 square miles (0.49 km2), all of it land.
DEMOGRAPHICS: Pitsburg, Ohio Demographics
ROSSBURG
HISTORY: Rossburg was platted by John G. Ross in 1868. In its early years, the community was also known as “Hagerman”; under this name a post office was established in the community on December 19, 1883, and it operated under this name until November 4, 1905. The village was very small until a period of growth began circa 1883, when a predecessor of the Cincinnati, Jackson and Mackinaw Railroad built a railroad line through Rossburg.
GEOGRAPHY: According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.14 square miles (0.36 km2), all of it land.
DEMOGRAPHICS: Rossburg, Ohio Demographics
UNION CITY
HISTORY: Union City was platted in 1838 and incorporated on December 6, 1853. Incorporation came during a period of growth occasioned by the opening of a line of the Greenville and Miami Railroad through the community on December 12, 1852.
One house in Union City, known as the “Lambert-Parent House”, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
GEOGRAPHY: According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.97 square miles (2.51 km2), of which, 0.92 square miles (2.38 km2) is land and 0.05 square miles (0.13 km2) is water.
DEMOGRAPHICS: Union City, Ohio Demographics
VERSAILLES
HISTORY: Founded in 1819, the village is named after the city of Versailles in France. Versailles was originally named Jacksonville. However, as a large number of early residents were of French descent, it was suggested that the village’s name be changed to “Versailles” in memory of their homeland. Versailles became the new name of the village in 1837.
GEOGRAPHY: According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.88 square miles (4.87 km2), of which, 1.87 square miles (4.84 km2) is land and 0.01 square miles (0.03 km2) is water.
DEMOGRAPHICS: Versailles, Ohio Demographics
WAYNE LAKES
HISTORY: European explorers established a frontier fort at Fort Jefferson, just across Mud Creek from what is now Wayne Lakes, in 1791. It was named in honor of Thomas Jefferson, then Secretary of State. One of a chain of defensive forts built to protect army supplies from Indians; it served as a supply base throughout the campaigns of General Arthur St. Clair and General Anthony Wayne. Fort Greene Ville, now Greenville, the Darke County seat, is 5 miles to the north; Fort Black, now New Madison, is located 5 miles to the south. “St. Clair had selected a site on a rather low, rounded gravel knoll, about five miles south of modern-day Greenville, Ohio, for the location of his new fort of deposit. Although he said that the site was ‘proper enough’ for a post, his men thought the location too accessible to the enemy. It was surrounded by small knolls and was susceptible to have the supply of water cut off because the fresh spring that issued nearby was about 100 feet distant”. In 1872 timber in the remaining woods consisted of “seven species of Oaks, Sugar maple, Slippery Elm, Beech Black Walnut, Shagbark Hickory, Buckeye, Trembling Aspen (Populus temmuloides), Mulberries, Flowering Dogwood, Crabapple, Honey Locust and Pawpaw.”
Describing the gravel and sand knolls, “Between Greenville [Ohio] and Richmond [Indiana], along the Pittsburg, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad, they are unusually clustered, and are worked by that company in many points”.[6] Noting that the knolls were more than a scenic highpoint in a flatland region, “but what is of more consequence than serving as a relief, in an aesthetic sense, they constitute the great reservoirs from which the material has been supplied to construct so many fine pikes, intersecting the county everywhere, and of which the people are so proud; and which furnished almost at the very spots where most desired for building and other purposes, quantities of the most excellent sand.”.
GEOGRAPHY: According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.65 square miles (1.68 km2), of which, 0.53 square miles (1.37 km2) is land and 0.12 square miles (0.31 km2) is water.
DEMOGRAPHICS: Wayne Lakes, Ohio Demographics
YORKSHIRE
HISTORY: Yorkshire was incorporated in 1901. In its early years, the village grew rapidly; the population was 182 at the 1910 census.
GEOGRAPHY: According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.28 square miles (0.73 km2), all of it land.
DEMOGRAPHICS: Yorkshire, Ohio Demographics
DARKE
COUNTY
TOWNSHIP ASSOCIATION
DC TOWNSHIPS
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Adams
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Allen
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Brown
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Butler
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Franklin
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Liberty
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Greenville
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Harrison
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Jackson
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Mississinawa
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Monroe
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Neave
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Patterson
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Richland
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Twin
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Van Buren
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Wabash
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Washington
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Wayne
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York
OFFICERS
President: Curtis Yount 937-459-0498
Vice President: Ty House 937-417-2590
Secretary: Debbie Kuhnle 937-548-5567
Treasurer: Dave Brewer 937-447-3295
Executive Secretary: Ed Huff Jr. 937-337-5181
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Jim Zumbrink – York Twp.
Claude Fenstermaker – Adams Twp.
Kim Myers – Franklin Twp.
Steven Puthoff – Patterson Twp.
Walter Wiant – Neave Twp.
Kevin McKibben – Monroe Twp.
Jeremy Edger – Greenville Twp.
FINANCE COMMITTEE
Jeffrey Keller – Mississinawa Twp.
Tim Warner – VanBuren Twp.
Douglas Longefellow – Jackson Twp.
Mike Foreman – Liberty Twp.
Robert Godown – Harrison Twp.
Chris Mestemaker – Allen Twp.
Jerry Marker – Richland Twp.
LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE
Ryan Crawford – Butler Twp.
Wayne Stutz – Twin Twp.
Michael Stephan – Wabash Twp.
Michael Lawrence – Wayne Twp.
Don Weiss – Washington Twp.
Andrew Prasuhn – Brown Twp.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE
Jim Zumbrink, Jeffrey Keller & Ryan Crawford