White Oak Township, Highland County

How White Oak Township, Highland County began

Whiteoak Township lies in the southwestern part of Highland County and takes its name from White Oak Creek, which drains it. The county commissioners set it off in 1821, mainly from Concord Township, with the Ripley road and the county line as its east and west bounds, and Clay Township was cut from its western part in 1831. Samuel Bell platted Mowrystown, in the township's south, in 1829, and by the 1870s the township held a French settlement that kept its own church and customs. Its swampy land along White Oak Creek was cleared and ditched in the later 1800s, and it remains rural and agricultural, with 1,305 residents in 2020. It is the only Whiteoak Township in Ohio.

Where the name comes from

Named from White Oak Creek, which runs through it; it is the only Whiteoak Township in Ohio.

Before the town

The 1902 county history reports four prehistoric sites in White Oak Township on the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society's list, without naming or locating them. No named village, trail or treaty site specific to Whiteoak Township is recorded in the sources checked. The township's land lay within the roughly two-thirds of Ohio ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, signed by the Wyandot, Shawnee, Lenape (Delaware), Miami, Ottawa and other nations, which opened this part of southern Ohio to settlement. Nearby is the Fort Salem earthwork in neighboring Salem Township.

Nations recorded here: Shawnee, Wyandot, Lenape (Delaware).

• Four prehistoric sites reported to the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society (other) — White Oak Township (not located in the source), prehistoric (archive.org)

Timeline

1. 1805 — Highland County, including the future Whiteoak Township, is organized from parts of Ross, Adams and Clermont counties.
2. 1809 — William Mowry builds a tavern and becomes the first postmaster of the settlement that grows into Mowrystown, in the township's southern section; this date comes from a single local source and is not confirmed by the county histories.
3. 1821 — Whiteoak Township, then including present Clay Township, is set off mainly from Concord, bounded east and west by the Ripley road and the county line.
4. 1829 — Samuel Bell plats Mowrystown.
5. 1830s — A settler named Dutcher builds a 20-by-20-foot log house on section 35 of the township before it has windows or doors; a daughter, Abigail, born to the family on December 19, 1835, is remembered as the first white child born in the township.
6. 1831 — On December 5 Clay Township, named for Henry Clay, is set off from White Oak.
7. 1840 — A little before 1840 a Presbyterian church is organized among the French settlers of White Oak at the house of Frederick Grandgirard, whose son, the Rev. E. Grandgirard, is its pastor after 1846; a church is later built at Mowrystown.
8. 1842 — A United Brethren church is organized at Mowrystown about 1842.
9. 1878 — The county's centennial history notes a French settlement in Whiteoak Township that keeps French tastes and habits, and says the swamp land on the waters of White Oak Creek, recently cleared and ditched, is likely to become the most fertile part of the county.
10. 1900 — The census counts 1,228 people in White Oak Township.
11. 1902 — The White Oak Valley Bank is established at Mowrystown, with J. F. Cross as president.
12. 1915 — Whiteoak Township High School is built in Mowrystown, its cornerstone dated 1915.
13. 2020 — The U.S. Census records 1,305 residents in Whiteoak Township.

Stories

Mowrystown and the Underground Railroad

Mowrystown sits in the southern part of Whiteoak Township, close enough to the Ohio River counties that it lay along routes used by people escaping slavery before the Civil War. Highland County's location just north of Brown and Adams counties, both on the river, put its Quaker and Presbyterian congregations within reach of the network of safe houses that guided freedom seekers north. The village grew up around the tavern and post office kept by early settler William Mowry, and the Mowrystown Presbyterian Church became one of its long-standing landmarks. Whiteoak Township High School, built in Mowrystown with a cornerstone dated 1915, later served the township's students until Highland County's schools were consolidated in the 20th century; the building still stands.

The French settlement on White Oak

The county's centennial history, written in 1876-77, singled out one community in Highland: a French settlement or colony in Whiteoak Township, isolated, which he said kept French tastes and habits. The 1902 county history traces its church life to the house of Frederick Grandgirard, where a Presbyterian church was organized among the French settlers a little before 1840. His son, the Rev. E. Grandgirard, became its pastor after 1846, and a church building was put up at Mowrystown. The younger Grandgirard also served the Presbyterians of Marshall, where a congregation was organized in 1851 with him as pastor. The same history noted that the swamp land on the waters of White Oak Creek, lately cleared and ditched, was likely to become the most fertile part of the county.

Photographs

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

Mostly private wells The water here

• Hillsboro City40% of residentsClear Creek (via Selph Road & Liberty Park Reservoirs)
• Waynoka Regional Water and Sewer Dist23% of residentsLake Waynoka / Sycamore Run reservoirs
• Sardinia Village21% of residentsOhio River Valley Aquifer (wells)
• Highland County Water Company, Inc.14% of residentsSand-and-gravel aquifer wells (Ross/Highland Co. well fields; local wells)
• Winchester Public Water System1% of residentsOhio River Valley Aquifer (wells near Manchester)
• Adams County Regional Wd1% of residentsOhio River Valley Aquifer (wells near Manchester)

Spills reported since 2021 (1)

Elections for office

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

Cite this page