Smith Township, Mahoning County

How Smith Township, Mahoning County began

Smith Township was organized in March 1821 after a petition by Judge William Smith, an early Mahoning County pioneer for whom it is named, and like four neighboring townships belonged to Columbiana County until 1846 -- it was never part of the Connecticut Western Reserve. The township is the only one in Mahoning County to border Stark County, and it holds the southwestern corner of the city of Alliance along with the villages of Sebring, in its southern portion, and Beloit, which began in the late 1840s as a railroad stop called Smithfield Station before taking its present name, borrowed from Beloit, Wisconsin, in 1863. Clay manufacturing became the township's major industry in the twentieth century: the Alliance Clay Product Company, built starting in 1906 east of Alliance, produced building brick, paving block and sewer pipe, reaching 275,000 bricks a day at its 1924 peak before closing in 1970 as paving materials changed.

Settled Organized March 1821, following a petition by Judge William Smith, platted 1821, within Columbiana County, incorporated Added to Mahoning County in 1846, by Judge William Smith, an early Mahoning County pioneer.

Where the name comes from

Smith Township is named for Judge William Smith, described as a pioneer of the area, who petitioned for the township's organization in March 1821.

Before the town

No Native American village, trail, or site specific to Smith Township is documented in the sources consulted. Like Beaver, Goshen, Green and Springfield townships, Smith was never part of the Connecticut Western Reserve; it belonged to Columbiana County until 1846.

Timeline

1. 1821 — Smith Township is organized in March following a petition by Judge William Smith, within Columbiana County.
2. 1840s — A railroad stop called Smithfield Station is established in the township's southeast, the origin of the future village of Beloit.
3. 1846 — Smith Township, previously part of Columbiana County, is added to the newly organized Mahoning County.
4. 1863 — Smithfield Station is renamed Beloit, a name transferred from Beloit, Wisconsin.
5. 1898 — The Sebring family lays out the village of Sebring in the township's southern portion (see the Sebring village unit for its founding in full).
6. 1906 — Construction begins on the Alliance Clay Product Company plant east of Alliance, on South Mahoning Avenue in Smith Township.
7. 1907 — The company's single plant is producing 18,000 bricks a day.
8. 1914 — A second plant is added to the complex.
9. 1924 — A third plant brings total production capacity to about 275,000 bricks a day.
10. 1929 — Natural gas discovered on the company property allows gas-fired kilns, improving operations.
11. 1970 — The Alliance Clay Product Company ceases production as alternative road-surfacing materials replace paving brick.
12. 1978 — The Alliance Clay Product Company complex, a 713-acre historic district with twelve contributing properties, is added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 8.

Stories

A quarter-million bricks a day

Smith Township's clay deposits turned a single 1906 plant east of Alliance into one of the region's major industrial complexes within twenty years. The Alliance Clay Product Company began production making building brick, paving block, sewer pipe and drain tile, turning out 18,000 bricks a day by 1907; the company added a second plant in 1914 and a third in 1924, by which point the complex could fire 275,000 bricks daily. A 1929 discovery of natural gas on the property let the company switch to gas-fired kilns, extending the operation's efficient life. But the very material the plant depended on making -- paving brick -- fell out of favor as asphalt and concrete became the standard road surface through the mid-twentieth century, and the company shut down in 1970. Its 713-acre complex of abandoned kilns and buildings, twelve of them counted as contributing structures, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, a monument to an industry that outlived its own product's usefulness.

Photographs

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org

Mostly private wells The water here

• Alliance City56% of residentsWalborn Reservoir + Deer Creek Reservoir + Mahoning River
• Sebring Village39% of residentsMahoning River (surface water intake)
• Island Creek Homeowners6% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)

Shale and injection wells (2)

Facilities reporting toxic releases (3)

Spills reported since 2021 (4)

Who holds office

Roster as of 2026-09-17: county board of elections.

Ballot issues

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked.

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Financial Audit, 2022 to 2023, released 2025-07-31

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