Hamersville

How Hamersville began

Hamersville, in Clark Township, was laid out in 1838 by Nathaniel Moore Sr. and George Flick on the ridge between White Oak Creek and the East Fork of the Little Miami. It was named for Congressman Thomas L. Hamer, who got a post office placed there and whose West Point nominee was Ulysses S. Grant of neighboring Georgetown. A steam sawmill and a tobacco warehouse were its early industries, and it stayed a village of about 200 until a railroad reached it in December 1881; its population peaked at 688 in 1980 and was 485 in 2020.

Platted 1838, by Nathaniel Moore Sr. and George Flick.

Where the name comes from

Named for Thomas L. Hamer, then a member of Congress from the district, who was instrumental in having a post office located at the place (1883 county history). Hamer later served as a brigadier general in the Mexican-American War and died at Monterrey in 1846.

Before the town

No Native village, mound or trail specific to Hamersville is recorded in the sources checked. The 1883 county history places the line between Shawnee hunting grounds (Scioto Valley) and Miami hunting grounds (Miami Valley) across Brown County, and a small run near the village was still called Indian Run in the 1830s, when a sawmill stood on it. The site lies within the 1795 Treaty of Greenville cession and the Virginia Military District.

Nations recorded here: Shawnee, Miami.

Timeline

1. 1808 — Clark Township is created on October 18 by the Clermont County commissioners, before Brown County exists; it then covered nearly 100 square miles and was cut back by the formation of Washington and Franklin (1822), Pike (1823) and Scott (1828) townships.
2. 1838 — Hamersville is laid out by Nathaniel Moore Sr. and George Flick in Clark Township and named for Congressman Thomas L. Hamer, who helped win it a post office.
3. 1838 — Eliakim and Nathaniel Moore and W. H. Kennedy build the first steam sawmill in Hamersville; it later burned twice and was rebuilt, and was run by C. P. Fite and Peter Kellum in the 1880s.
4. 1838 — William C. Doudney opens the first store and is the first postmaster; chair-maker William H. Flick, his widow, and their daughter Pauline Perkins hold the office in turn until 1880, when Dr. J. C. Stires takes it.
5. 1839 — Ulysses S. Grant of Georgetown leaves for West Point; the congressman who nominated him was Thomas L. Hamer, the village's namesake.
6. 1848 — The Methodists build a log church in Hamersville; the class stayed weak and the building was sold within about twenty years.
7. 1860 — The Disciples of Christ build a brick church at Hamersville; they had met about ten years at Unity church in Scott Township before organizing in the village, and were the strongest congregation in the township.
8. 1866 — De Soto Lodge No. 374, Odd Fellows, is instituted at Hamersville on June 14 with fifteen charter members.
9. 1868 — The Cincinnati and Portsmouth Railroad is graded across Clark Township; the line was not finished to Hamersville until the first train arrived in December 1881.
10. 1874 — Clark Grange No. 382 is instituted on January 13; it builds a hall in 1876 and runs a supply store in it for three or four years.
11. 1880 — Census: 231 residents (264 in 1890, 242 in 1900); the count rose to 380 in 1950 and peaked at 688 in 1980.
12. 1881 — The first train of cars runs into Hamersville in December, cutting a trip to Cincinnati from three or four days by wagon to a few hours.
13. 1882 — The village has about 200 people, two dry-goods stores, three groceries, a drug store, a tobacco warehouse, a steam sawmill and two physicians.
14. 2020 — The census counts 485 residents, down from 546 in 2010. Albert Nelson Marquis, founder of Who's Who, is the village's notable native.

Stories

The railroad that took thirteen years

When the Cincinnati and Portsmouth Railroad was graded across Clark Township in the fall of 1868, Hamersville expected to be on the through line to the city. The first train of cars did not come into Hamersville until December 1881, thirteen years later, and the county history published in 1883 thought the village 'likely to be the terminus for some time'. It also records what the line meant: a trip from Hamersville to Cincinnati and back, which used to take three or four days by wagon, could now be done in a few hours.

A congressman's post office

Hamersville owes its name to Thomas L. Hamer, who represented the district in Congress from 1833 to 1839 and was instrumental in getting a post office placed at the new crossroads town laid out in 1838. William Doudney, who kept the first store, was the first postmaster, and the office then stayed in the Flick family for decades. Hamer is better remembered for what he did next door: he nominated Georgetown's Hiram Ulysses Grant to West Point, where the name was entered as Ulysses S. Grant. Hamer himself enlisted as a private in the Mexican War, was made a brigadier general in July 1846, and died at Monterrey that December.

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · archive.org · en.wikipedia.org

Mostly private wells The water here

• Hamersville Village49% of residentsOhio River Valley Aquifer (wells)
• Tate-monroe Water Association42% of residentsOhio River valley aquifer (collector/vertical wells)
• Brown County Rural Water8% of residentsOhio River Valley Aquifer (wells)

Fire and EMS stations (1)

Public schools (1)

Facilities reporting toxic releases (1)

Money issues on the ballot since 2021: 0 of 1 passed.

Ballot issues

Source: Ohio EPA eDocument portal (edocpub.epa.ohio.gov), indexed 2026-10-14. Facilities are placed on the map from Ohio EPA's own map layers, EPA's Facility Registry, coordinates written in the filings, or a geocoded street address. A permit filed under a private person's name (most are household septic systems) is counted but never named, placed or linked; licenses for individual workers and open-burning notices are left out entirely.

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