Local events in Rarden
Nothing is posted for Rarden itself yet; here is what is on within 20 miles. All local events in Rarden
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Checked October 20; the events page is refreshed daily.
How Rarden began
The village at the center of Rarden Township has carried three names. Pennsylvania settlers who arrived around 1846 called it Moccasin; it was later renamed Galena, after the Illinois hometown of the Grant family, by Orvil Grant, brother of Ulysses S. Grant; and it took its present name, Rarden, on incorporation in 1886, honoring early settler Thomas Ephrim Rarden. Rarden Township itself split off from Brush Creek Township on January 10, 1891, with the village as its seat. Once home to Taylor's Mansion, a 22-room Victorian built in 1899 by stone-company owner Lafe Taylor, the village has shrunk steadily from a peak of 443 residents in 1900 to a fraction of that today.
Settled c. 1846 (as Moccasin), incorporated 1886 (as Rarden), by named for early settler Thomas Ephrim Rarden.
Where the name comes from
First called Moccasin by early Pennsylvania settlers; renamed Galena by Orvil Grant (brother of Ulysses S. Grant) for the Grant family's hometown in Illinois; renamed again to Rarden on its 1886 incorporation, honoring early settler Thomas Ephrim Rarden.
Before the town
No Native site or event specific to Rarden was found in the sources consulted; the village's early name, Moccasin, is a Native-derived word but no source found ties it to a specific local event, person or site rather than simply a period naming choice by Pennsylvania settlers.
Timeline
- — Pennsylvania settlers establish the community, naming it Moccasin.
- — The village, by then renamed Galena by Orvil Grant, incorporates under its present name, Rarden, honoring settler Thomas Ephrim Rarden.
- — Rarden Township organizes, separating from Brush Creek Township with the village of Rarden as its center.
- — Lafe Taylor, owner of the Taylor Stone Company, builds the 22-room Taylor's Mansion in Rarden; it later serves as a hotel and a nursing home.
- — The village's population peaks at 443.
- — George Beatty Syroney establishes the Rarden Volunteer Fire Department.
- — The fire department launches a Junior Firefighters Program.
Stories
Moccasin, Galena, Rarden: a village renamed twice
Pennsylvania settlers who reached this spot around 1846 called it Moccasin, a name drawn from Native footwear rather than from any documented Native settlement here. It did not stay Moccasin for long: Orvil Grant, younger brother of Ulysses S. Grant, renamed it Galena for the small Illinois town the Grant family called home — a naming choice that says more about one prominent family's sentiment than about the Ohio hamlet itself. The name changed a third and final time in 1886, when the village incorporated as Rarden, honoring early settler Thomas Ephrim Rarden, and the surrounding township took the same name when it organized in 1891. Three names in forty years is unusual even by the standards of a county with dozens of renamed and vanished hamlets, and it left the village, by the time Lafe Taylor built his 22-room Victorian mansion here in 1899, with a name that finally stuck.
Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org
Water
No water-system data is linked to Rarden's ZIP codes yet.
Hospitals, fire stations and more
Inside Rarden's boundary: 1 fire or EMS station. Press a pin or a name for its whole record and its source.
Fire and EMS stations (1)
-
Rarden Volunteer Fire DepartmentRarden
- Address
- 1400 Main Street, Rarden, OH 45671
- Coordinates
- 38.92265, -83.24536
USGS National Map structures (source) ↗ Street map and directions ↗
Source: USGS National Map structures (most Ohio records last updated 2019 to 2022), checked against the Columbus and Cleveland station lists. The department that answers a call is set by jurisdiction and mutual aid, not by distance.
Its ZIP codes
Each ZIP code that touches Rarden, with the share of its residents who live here and the same headline figures as the ZIP page.
| ZIP | Share | Water | Radon | Home value | Schools | Flood |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45671 Rarden Township and Rarden | 31% | Mostly private wells | Too few radon tests | Median year built 1948 | Northwest Local · 4 stars overall | 8.9% of residents in the 1% floodplain |
Local government
How its elections and ballot issues came out and the state auditor's record.
Money issues on the ballot since 2024: 2 of 2 passed; of those asking for new or higher taxes, 2 of 2.
Ballot issues
| Date | Issue | For | Against | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-03-19 | Issue: Property Tax (Additional - 6 Mills) - Village Of Rarden (6.0 mills, additional) | 31 | 8 | Passed (79.49% for), unofficial |
| 2024-03-19 | Issue: Property Tax (Additional - 5.5 Mills) - Village Of Rarden (5.5 mills, additional) | 31 | 7 | Passed (81.58% for), unofficial |
| 2023-11-07 | Issue: RARDEN VILLAGE - CURRENT EXPENSES | 18 | 22 | Failed (45.0% for) |
| 2023-11-07 | Issue: RARDEN VILLAGE - FIRE | 20 | 20 | Failed (50.0% for) |
| 2018-11-06 | Issue: Rarden Village Current Expenses | 40 | 20 | Passed (66.67% for) |
| 2018-11-06 | Issue: Rarden Village Fire | 49 | 12 | Passed (80.33% for) |
Elections for office
| Date | Office | Candidates and votes |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-11-07 | MAYOR | Ronald L. Syroney 33, 100.0% |
| 2023-11-07 | COUNCIL MEMBER | Sharon Ward 38, 100.0% |
| 2021-11-02 | Council Member (unofficial count) | James Estep 24, 37.5%; Roger McAllister 17, 26.56%; Larry J. Windle 23, 35.94% |
| 2017-11-07 | Council Member | James Estep 44, 53.01%; Roger McAllister 39, 46.99% |
| 2015-11-03 | Mayor | Ronald L. Syroney 61, 100.0% |
| 2015-11-03 | Council Member | Marty Thompson 24, 19.2%; Sharon Ward 48, 38.4%; Angie White 53, 42.4% |
Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked. The county's results on file run through 2024-03-19; later elections are not loaded yet.
Auditor of State record
- Fiscal caution: declared 2013-10-17, still in effect. source
- Financial Audit, 2023 to 2024, released 2026-02-03
On the November 3, 2026 ballot
Statewide question: State Issue 3: Voter ID
Races, candidates and every question for an address: your ballot. County offices and judges are on your county board's sample ballot.
The county
Scioto County: 15 ZIP codes, 24 cities, villages and townships with pages here, 71,365 people (Census Bureau estimate, July 2025).
Nearby places
Rain and snow
How much has actually fallen on Rarden, day by day, from 1893 to now. Daily totals, not averages.
- rain, last 30 days
- 1.41 in
- 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-30
- rain so far in 2026
- 38.1 in
- about normal for the date
- snow so far in 2026
- 15.7 in
- a normal year brings 16.5 in
- a normal year
- 44.6 in
- average of 30 years, 1991-2020
| Month | Rain (in) | Snow (in) | Days counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2026 | 1.41 | — | 30 |
| September 2026 | 5.79 | — | 30 |
| August 2026 | 5.25 | — | 31 |
| July 2026 | 3.89 | — | 31 |
| June 2026 | 3.94 | — | 30 |
| May 2026 | 6.47 | — | 31 |
| April 2026 | 2.93 | — | 30 |
| March 2026 | 5.61 | 0.6 | 31 |
| February 2026 | 1.06 | 7.0 | 28 |
| January 2026 | 1.78 | 8.2 | 31 |
| December 2025 | 2.32 | 8.8 | 31 |
| November 2025 | 3.62 | 2.1 | 30 |
| Wettest year (estimated) | 2018 — 61.7 in |
|---|---|
| Driest year (estimated) | 1930 — 26.2 in |
| Wettest day (estimated) | 2 March 1997 — 4.24 in |
| Heaviest snowfall in a day (estimated) | 17 January 1994 — 12.68 in |
| Deepest snow on the ground (estimated) | 4 February 1907 — 23.24 in |
Estimated, not measured. No rain gauge has ever stood inside Rarden, so every figure here is worked out from the gauges around it - the nearest ones weighted most. Treat them as close estimates rather than readings.
48,788 days of records, 1893-01-01 to 2026-10-30. Source: NOAA NCEI GHCN-Daily, 3,240 gauges in and around Ohio. A day is "gauged" when a gauge standing inside the boundary reported it, and the value is the mean of those gauges. Otherwise it is interpolated by inverse distance from every gauge reporting within 50 miles. Nothing is carried forward, back-filled or smoothed. Against NOAA nClimDiv county monthly precipitation over 136,848 complete county-months (checked 2026-11-01): correlation 0.9515, median absolute difference 0.217 in a month. Built 2026-11-01 from the Cracked Buckeye precipitation archive. Snow is the softer number — snowfall is measured by hand with a ruler, no agency publishes a gridded county snowfall series, and blowing snow defeats every observer.
Quick answers
What county is Rarden, Ohio in?
Rarden is a village in Scioto County, Ohio, with 128 residents.
When was Rarden, Ohio founded?
Rarden was settled c. 1846 (as Moccasin); incorporated 1886 (as Rarden). Founders on record: named for early settler Thomas Ephrim Rarden. Source
How did Rarden, Ohio get its name?
First called Moccasin by early Pennsylvania settlers; renamed Galena by Orvil Grant (brother of Ulysses S. Source
What ZIP code is Rarden, Ohio?
Most of Rarden is in ZIP code 45671.
Where does Rarden, Ohio get its water?
The main water source for Rarden: Mostly private wells.
Cite this page
Cite this page as:
Cracked Buckeye, "Rarden, Scioto County", https://crackedbuckeye.com/place/rarden/, built 2026-10-31, accessed [date].
How to cite · Report a correction · Built 2026-10-31