Decorative drawing: a small American settlement seen from a low hill. Not a photograph of this place.

Fort Jefferson, Ohio

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Neave Township. It lies in ZIP code area 45331. It stands on Prairie Outlet. The Survey maps it on the Greenville West quadrangle.

Fort Jefferson within Darke County

Then and now

1953 to 1986

The same ground, surveyed 33 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Fort Jefferson, surveyed 1986

Topographic sheet of Fort Jefferson, surveyed 1953

Topographic sheets covering this place

12 sheets

Matched 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.

1953 USGS Muncie quadrangle1:250000
1953 USGS Muncie quadrangle1:250000
1953 USGS Muncie quadrangle1:250000
1953 USGS Muncie quadrangle1:250000
1953 USGS Muncie quadrangle1:250000
1956 USGS Muncie quadrangle1:250000
1961 USGS Greenville West quadrangle1:24000
1961 USGS Greenville West quadrangle1:24000
1961 USGS Greenville West quadrangle1:24000
1986 USGS Piqua quadrangle1:100000
1986 USGS Piqua quadrangle1:100000
1986 USGS Piqua quadrangle1:100000

In the county-history sources

10,526 words on this township

The History of Darke County, Ohio, Containing a History of the County; Its Cities, Towns, Etc.; General and Local Statistics; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men;, published 1880 names this settlement in its chapter on Neave Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

The pioneer settler in the lands now constituting Neave Township was Andrew Noftsinger. who came to Darke Count}' in 1810. Sometime about 1817, he built a grist-mill on Mud Creek, below the outlet of the lake, where later stood the mill of Dr. Otwell. In the order of construction, this was the third mill built in the county. At the old post, known as Fort Jefferson, James Hayes was one of the earliest settlers. John Ryerson moved in in 1810. ami during the two vears following, settlement was made in the township by Moses Arnold, George W. Hight. William Townsend, Hezekiah Veitz. John Puterbaugh and Christian Schlechty.

Passage source: The History of Darke County, Ohio, Containing a History of the County; Its Cities, Towns, Etc.; General and Local Statistics; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men;, published 1880.

When the settler wanted groceries, he went into the woods and cut a load of hoop-poles, and took them for sale to Martinsburg. Coonskins and hoop-poles were Darke County currency in those days. All the cabins, single and double, were built of logs, with puncheon-logs split and hewed on one side for floors ; greased paper took the place of glass, and wood latch and string were the pioneer's substitute for door-knob and bell. At this time there were only two cabins between what is now Louisburg and Matchett's Corner, and only one little cabin between Weaver's and Fort Jefferson. Deer, turkeys, bear and other animals abounded, and furnished meat supply to the table. Mr. Weaver himself killed about one hundred deer, two bears, and very many turkeys. As is the case with all old sportsmen, Mr. Weaver enjoys a relation of early experiences, and tells the following concerning a bear-hunt in which he was engaged.

George Noggle and T. C. Neave, William and Simeon Chapman and Adam Belles were all of that class known as early settlers in this township. It is said that, when this township was organized, a game of cards was played by H. D. Williams and John Douglass on the one side, against Easton Morris and T. C. Neave on the other, to determine who should have the honor of giving to it a name. The first party won, and they two playing again between themselves, the game was won by Williains, but Neave was so anxious to name the township, that he paid Williams $10 for the privilege, and then named it after himself. Fort Jefferson, built by the soldiers of St. Clair, in 1791, was the first structure erected by white people in the county. There is much of real interest connected with this old post which should be gleaned and placed on record.

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 Neave Township - it names this place 3 more 3 times.

Fires near this place

1 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Fort Jefferson between 2002 and 2002, burning about 1 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Equipment and vehicle use	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
2 November 2002	Equipment and vehicle use	1.0 acres	Ohio State Fire Marshal's Office	not named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Darke County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 405 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 405 specimens collected within 10 miles of Fort Jefferson between 1838 and 1975: 375 Animalia, 19 Plantae, 10 Fungi, 1 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A VERWYST, A. F. C.; Stover, W. G., Albrecht, C. 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.

Species	Year	Collected by	Where, as recorded
Calopteryx maculata (Palisot de Beauvois, 1807)	1942	[Not Stated]	Greenville Creek, 2-6 miles southeast of Union City
Argia fumipennis violacea (Hagen, 1861)	1969	B. Montgomery, L. Alward & P. Alward	Baker's Motel, near Norwick
Callitriche palustris L.	1838	Short, C.W.	Lexington, Kentucky.
Peronospora destructor (Berk.) Casp. ex Berk.	1883	Collector unspecified	Ithaca
Dispira americana Thaxt.	1895	Rush W. H.	Greenville
Etheostoma caeruleum Storer, 1845	1905	Clark, C. F. (Clarence F.)	Prairie Outlet, Sec 28 of Neave township, ~0.3 mi NE of Wayne Lakes Park, Neave township
Etheostoma microperca Jordan & Gilbert, 1888	1905	Clark, C. F. (Clarence F.)	Prairie Outlet, Sec 28 of Neave township, ~0.3 mi NE of Wayne Lakes Park, Neave township
Clitocybe multiceps Peck	1906	H.J. Brememan	Greenville
Peziza vesiculosa Bull.	1907	Lucas, C	Greenville
Amanita phalloides (Vaill. ex Fr.) Secr.	1909	A. F. C.; Stover, W. G.	Greenville
Clitocybe odora (Bull.) P.Kumm.	1909	Stover, W. G.	Greenville
Panaeolus solidipes (Peck) Sacc.	1909	Stover, W. G.	Greenville

All 405 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

8 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Fort Jefferson: 4 past producers, 3 producers, 1 plant. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Limestone, General. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Fort Jefferson Quarry	Limestone, General	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Fort Jefferson Quarry & Mill	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Plant
Darke County Pit	Clay	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Darke County Pit	Clay	Producer
Hollinger Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Hollinger Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Slagle Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Slagle Sand and Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer

Every working recorded in Darke County

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.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Wayne Lakes Park	0.4 miles	12
Weavers	1.2 miles	12
Frys Corners	2.0 miles	12
Savona	2.6 miles	9
Hewitt	3.0 miles	9
Baker	3.2 miles	12
Beechgrove	3.3 miles	8
Jaysville	3.3 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 Fort Jefferson	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q22133751	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 1048749. 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.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

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.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.