BlockEssex, Ohio
11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1913 and the latest in 1992. It stands in Jackson Township. It lies in ZIP code area 43344. It stands on Big Swale Creek. The Survey maps it on the Richwood quadrangle. It stands 945 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1913 to 1992The same ground, surveyed 79 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 11 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1913 USGS Richwood quadrangle1:62500
- 1915 USGS Richwood quadrangle1:62500
- 1944 USGS Richwood quadrangle1:62500
- 1950 USGS Marion quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Richwood quadrangle1:24000
- 1962 USGS Marion quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS Marion quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1986 USGS Bellefontaine quadrangle1:100000
- 1992 USGS Bellefontaine quadrangle1:100000
In the county-history sources
17,068 words on this townshipThe History of Union County Ohio, published 1883 names this settlement in its chapter on Jackson Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
Where the first election was held is not known; it was probably somewhere in what is now Claibourne. In 1832, the place of election was changed to the house of David Carr, and in 1838 it was ordered that the Township Trustees that elections be held at Michael Blue's house. In 1848, the schoolhouse at Essex became the voting place, and the elections have ever since been held at Essex.
Passage source: The History of Union County Ohio, published 1883.
The first settler in the territory now comprised within Jackson Township was Benjamin Carter. He was born in Tennessee February 25, 1787; emigrated to Ohio in 1805, and settled in Champaign County; he there married Mary Owen, January 24, 1812, and served a short time in the war that shortly ensued. He came with his family to Jackson Township, December 25, 1826, and purchased 160 acres in Survey No. 9,899, southwest from Essex, the place now owned by W. G. Cowgill. Mr. Carter was an industrious farmer, and spent the remainder of his life in clearing and cultivating his farm. He remained a life-long citizen of Jackson Township and died March 5, 1866; his wife, who was born in 1796, died in 1871. Their children are Worret O., a farmer, who married Polly Chapman in this township, removed to Lima, Ohio, and theredied; Cyrus, a Methodist Protestant minister, married Elizabeth Chapman, and is now preaching in the West; Ebenezer O., who married Nancy Dysert, and was afterward accidentally drowned at Columbus;: Levi, a farmer, who married Jane Jones, of this township, and died in the army; James a physician, married to Anice Pooler, of Broadway, now practicing at Lincoln, Neb.; Sarah J., married to Hamilton Bigley, a Methodist Episcopal minister; and John P., who married Rosa Roberts.
Passage source: The History of Union County Ohio, published 1883.
David S, Allen came with the Cheneys in 1827, and settled just west of "Essex. He was born in Luzerne County, Penn., November 28, 1799, and married Keturah Cheney, in Champaign County, Ohio, March 22, 1821. Mrs. Allen died here December 19, 1834. Their children were, Daniel, Elizabeth, Anna, Thomas, Matilda and Amy. Mr. Allen subsequently married Elizabeth Love, and in 1844 removed to Illinois, where he died March 17, 1865.
Passage source: The History of Union County Ohio, published 1883.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Jackson Township - it names this place 34 more 34 times.
Specimens collected near this place
12 of 72 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 72 specimens collected within 10 miles of Essex between 1892 and 1974: 67 Animalia, 2 Plantae, 2 Fungi, 1 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by CL & LC Hubbs, E E Bogue, H.T. Osborn and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.
| Image | Species | Year | Collected by | Where, as recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Galium circaezans Michx. | 1892 | E E Bogue | Prospect |
| unnamed | 1914 | not recorded | ||
| Erasmoneura nigra (Gillette, 1898) | 1914 | H.T. Osborn | ||
 | Puccinia graminis Pers. | 1919 | MCFARLAND F. T. | Prospect |
 | Campostoma anomalum (Rafinesque, 1820) | 1925 | CL & LC Hubbs | Bokes Cr., on state road 21 |
 | Etheostoma blennioides Rafinesque, 1819 | 1925 | CL & LC Hubbs | Bokes Cr., on state road 21 |
 | Etheostoma caeruleum Storer, 1845 | 1925 | CL & LC Hubbs | Bokes Cr., on state road 21 |
 | Etheostoma flabellare Rafinesque, 1819 | 1925 | CL & LC Hubbs | Bokes Cr., on state road 21 |
 | Etheostoma nigrum Rafinesque, 1820 | 1925 | CL & LC Hubbs | Bokes Cr., on state road 21 |
 | Etheostoma spectabile (Agassiz, 1854) | 1925 | CL & LC Hubbs | Bokes Cr., on state road 21 |
 | Lepomis cyanellus Rafinesque, 1819 | 1925 | CL & LC Hubbs | Bokes Cr., on state road 21 |
 | Lepomis megalotis (Rafinesque, 1820) | 1925 | CL & LC Hubbs | Bokes Cr., on state road 21 |
All 72 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Storms near this place
14 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Essex in 14 storm reports between 1995 and 2026: 8 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 3 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Essex | $20,000 | A roof was blown off of a home northwest of Richwood due to thunderstorm winds. |
| November 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Essex | $5,000 | A roof was blown off of a barn near the Union and Marion County line due to thunderstorm winds. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Essex | $3,000 | A power pole was downed. |
| July 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Essex | $3,000 | Two trees were knocked down in the northern part of the county. |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Essex | $3,000 | Trees were downed near the intersection of State Routes 37 and 739. |
| March 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Essex | $2,000 | A utility pole was downed across Sanders Road. |
| July 2014 | Hail | Essex | $1,000 | Several large limbs were also downed due to thunderstorms winds. |
| July 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Essex | $1,000 | A few trees were downed in Price Cemetery. |
| April 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Essex | $500 | A stop sign was blown down. |
| June 2019 | Flood | Essex | - | Several roads remained closed due to flooding. |
| July 2019 | Flood | Essex | - | High water was reported on State Route 739 between Carter Road and Cobb-Harriman Road. |
| July 2016 | Flood | Essex | - | High water was reported on the road at the intersection of State Route 739 and Baldwin Road. |
| May 2025 | Hail | Essex | - | no account filed |
| June 1995 | Hail | Essex | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodland | 3.1 miles | 11 | |
| West Jackson | 3.3 miles | 12 | |
| Richwood | 4.0 miles | 11 | |
| Arbela | 4.8 miles | 12 | |
| Tawa Estates | 5.4 miles | 11 | |
| Haynesville (historical) | 6.3 miles | 12 | |
| Claiborne | 6.8 miles | 11 | |
| Summersville | 7.6 miles | 12 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Essex | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q5399614 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1083981. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.