Symmes Township, Lawrence County

How Symmes Township, Lawrence County began

Symmes Township, in northern Lawrence County, was organized in 1820 when its first settlers built cabins at the mouth of Johns Creek and at Yates Fork (now Caulley Creek) on Buffalo Creek. It takes its name, like Symmes Creek that runs through it, from Judge John Cleves Symmes, the Revolutionary War veteran and land speculator behind the Symmes Purchase in southwestern Ohio. Much of the township lies within Wayne National Forest -- as of 1989, the federal government owned 61 percent of its land -- and it holds no incorporated municipality, only the unincorporated community of Waterloo.

Settled 1820, incorporated 1820 (township organized), by the township's first settlers, who built cabins at the mouth of Johns Creek and at Yates Fork on Buffalo Creek.

Where the name comes from

Named for Judge John Cleves Symmes (1742-1814), the Revolutionary War veteran, congressman, and land speculator whose Symmes Purchase opened much of southwestern Ohio to settlement; Symmes Creek, which runs through the township, carries the same name.

Before the town

No source found records a Native village, mound, trail, or treaty event specific to Symmes Township. The township lies within the Ohio River lands ceded at the 1795 Treaty of Greenville; the county's broader Native history is covered at the county level.

Nations recorded here: Shawnee.

Timeline

1. 1820 — The township's first settlers organize Symmes Township and build cabins, initially at the mouth of Johns Creek and later at Yates Fork (now Caulley Creek) on Buffalo Creek.
2. 1834 — The township's first school opens in Andrew Burke's cabin on Johns Creek, serving twelve students drawn from three townships.
3. 1840 — Symmes Township had 492 residents; it counted 487 in 1850 and 801 in 1860.
4. 1850 — Symmes Township had a post office at Waterloo.
5. 1890 — The census counted 1,062 residents, falling to 1,032 in 1900 and 909 in 1910.
6. 1914 — A state report counts orchards in Symmes Township among 156 across eight Lawrence County townships (with Union, Windsor, Rome, Lawrence, Fayette, Elizabeth, and Mason townships), totaling 212,916 apple trees, including the locally originated Rome Beauty variety.
7. 1927 — A Sanborn fire insurance map is drawn of Waterloo, documenting the community's buildings, street names, and layout at a scale of 1 inch to 50 feet.
8. 1989 — The federal government owns 61 percent of the land in Symmes Township, reflecting its large share within Wayne National Forest.
9. 2020 — The township's population is recorded at 428 across 37.8 square miles in the decennial census, the smallest of the county's fourteen townships.

Stories

Twelve students in a settler's cabin

When Symmes Township organized in 1820, its first families built their cabins along the region's creeks rather than any planned town site -- first at the mouth of Johns Creek, then further out at Yates Fork on Buffalo Creek, a stream now known as Caulley Creek. It took another fourteen years for the township to manage formal schooling: in 1834 Andrew Burke opened his own cabin on Johns Creek as the township's first schoolhouse, drawing twelve students from families across three townships to a single room. That scattered, forest-edge pattern of settlement never fully gave way to town-building here the way it did along the county's Ohio River shore -- by 1989 the federal government owned 61 percent of the township's land as part of Wayne National Forest, and Symmes remains, in both population and built-up area, the smallest of Lawrence County's fourteen townships.

Photographs

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

Ohio River surface water, treated at the Ironton Water Treatment Plant (built 1993, approved capacity 4 million gallons per day, about 1.3 MGD produced). The foot-of-Vernon-Street siting describes the original 1872 waterworks, not the current intake location. The water here

• Hecla Water Association100% of residentsOhio River

Bridges rated poor (1)

Spills reported since 2021 (2)

Elections for office

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

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Basic Audit, 2023 to 2024, released 2025-05-15

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