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.
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