Kingston Township is located in the Sunbury/Big Walnut area in northeastern Delaware County at the Morrow County line. Early settlers, Puritans from New England, Germans from Pennsylvania, English and Dutch from New Jersey, English and Scotch-Irish from Virginia, immigrated to Kingston Township in the early 1800s.
The first pioneer to settle in Kingston Township was John Phipps who came in 1807 and built a log cabin along the Little Walnut Creek. The early settlers came to a wilderness with valuable timber, fertile farm land, and good water supplies. The best lands for farming were along the streams and in the eastern portion of Kingston Township. Even though wheat, corn, and oats could be profitable, the area’s land was considered best for grass and grazing.
The township was officially created on June 8, 1813 and consisted of four military sections of 16,000 acres total. The 25-mile area boasted springs, spring-runs and small streams including Butler Run, Indigo Run, Taylor Run, and Little Walnut Creek. Alum Creek runs across the northwest corner of the township. These water sources were important for livestock and agriculture as well as for water power. Most early settlements occurred along Little Walnut Creek.
Today, Delaware County is one of the fastest growing counties in Ohio and the tenth fastest growing county in the nation. In 1960, Kingston Township had 508 residents, a population that remained fairly steady in the ‘70s until the population jumped to 959 in 1980. The 1990 population of 1,136 jumped 41 percent to 1,603 residents living in 554 housing units in 2000.
New home growth ranged from 6-15 homes per year in the ‘80s then jumped to an average of 21 new homes each year in the ‘90s. That number has grown to more than 30 per year in the new millennium to more than 800 homes total.