Rarden, Ohio
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1915 and the latest in 1991. It stands in Rarden Township. It lies in ZIP code area 45671. It stands on Jessie Run. The Survey maps it on the Rarden quadrangle. 146 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 620 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresRarden fell from 159 to 146 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 159 | |
| 2020 | 146 | -13 (-8%) |
Then and now
1915 to 1991The same ground, surveyed 76 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
13 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.
- 1915 USGS Otway quadrangle1:62500
- 1915 USGS Otway quadrangle1:62500
- 1917 USGS Otway quadrangle1:62500
- 1957 USGS Huntington quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Huntington quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Huntington quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Huntington quadrangle1:250000
- 1961 USGS Rarden quadrangle1:24000
- 1961 USGS Rarden quadrangle1:24000
- 1961 USGS Rarden quadrangle1:24000
- 1961 USGS Rarden quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS Maysville quadrangle1:100000
- 1991 USGS Maysville quadrangle1:100000
In the county-history sources
6,389 words on this townshipA History of Scioto County, Ohio,, published 1903 names this settlement in its chapter on Rarden Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
The youngest of all the townships was organized from a portion of Brush Creek, January 10, 1891, and contains 19,688 acres, ranking ninth in area outside of Wayne. Although the last organized, it received its first inhabitants shortly after 1800. Among those who settled on Rarden Creek were John Smith, James and Oliver Jones, Charles Ross, Isaac Gifford, John and Matthew Williams and Enos Mustard. Among those on Mt. Joy were: Willis Bull. Nathaniel Newman, Hugh Brown, Johathan Boyd and James Scott. On Dunlap were: Isaac Newman, Benjamin and Joseph Walker. The first settler to take up land near the town of Rarden, was Jesse Edwards. His brother came at the same time and Christopher Newman settled near the line in Adams County. Others who settled in and about Rarden were: William and Thomas Thompson Thornton Kendall. John McCann, Joshua Armstrong, Paul K. Stewart, Thomas Rarden, Thomas Brown, Aaron Armstrong, James Nelson and Shelton Kendall.
Passage source: A History of Scioto County, Ohio,, published 1903.
Rarden Township is bounded on the north by Pike County, on the east by Morgan and Brush Creek, on the south by Brush Creek, and on the west by Adams County. No changes of any consequence have been made in the boundary since its organization. The assessed value of its personal property in 1900 was $61,798, and it ranked 10th; value of real estate, $80,470; rank 15th; the total valuation of property of all kinds was $142,268, and its rank was 14th.
Passage source: A History of Scioto County, Ohio,, published 1903.
It is watered by Brush Creek which enters from Adams County and crosses the southwest corner, and by its tributaries: Rarden Creek which rises in the northern part of the township and joins Brush Creek west of Rarden; Dunlap, which flows from the southwestern part and joins Brush Creek at Rarden; Dry Run, which courses along just west of the southeastern boundary and joins Brush Creek near Young. Besides these there are numerous other small affluents.
Passage source: A History of Scioto County, Ohio,, published 1903.
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 Rarden Township - it names this place 23 more 23 times.
Fires near this place
29 since 2003Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 29 fires within 5 miles of Rarden between 2003 and 2020, burning about 170 acres in total. None started naturally. 3 were 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11 |
| Debris and open burning | 9 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 4 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 3 |
| Smoking | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 May 2019 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | 15199 |
| 2 May 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6.0 acres | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | 12625 |
| 8 April 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8.0 acres | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 3 April 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | DRY FORK |
| 24 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 24 April 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.0 acres | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 23 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 22 April 2020 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 8.0 acres | Ohio Department of Natural Resources | 15683 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Specimens collected near this place
12 of 203 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 203 specimens collected within 10 miles of Rarden between 1893 and 1975: 99 Animalia, 97 Fungi, 6 Plantae, 1 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by Braun, E. Lucy, Conan J. Taylor, Cooke, William Bridge 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Albugo candida (Pers. ex J.F.Gmel.) Roussel | 1897 | F.L. Stevens | Alum Rock |
![]() | Ceriporia spissa (Schwein. ex Fr.) Rajchenb. | 1937 | Cooke, William Bridge | Rock Run |
![]() | Coprinellus micaceus (Bull.) Vilgalys, Hopple & Jacq.Johnson | 1937 | Cooke, William Bridge | Rock Run |
![]() | Myelochroa galbina (Ach.) Elix & Hale | 1893 | Jones, T.H.B | Otway |
| Eratoneura minor (Beamer, 1932) | 1921 | McAtee | ||
![]() | Physcia (Schreb.) Michx., 1803 | 1927 | Braun, E. Lucy | Beech Fork, Laurel Falls |
![]() | Campostoma anomalum anomalum | 1929 | MB Trautman | S Fork of Scioto Brush Creek, 1 mi W of Otway, Brush Creek Twp. |
![]() | Cyprinella whipplei Girard, 1856 | 1929 | Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard) & Foster, R. (Robert) | Scioto Brush Creek, ust SR 73, 2.4 miles southeast of Otway OH, Union township |
| Cyprinidae | 1929 | Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard) | South Fork Scioto Brush Creek, no precise locality data, Near Otway OH, Brush Creek Township | |
![]() | Esox vermiculatus Lesueur, 1846 | 1929 | Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard) & Foster, R. (Robert) | Scioto Brush Creek, 1 mi north of Otway, ~1.2 mi NW of Otway, Brush Creek township |
![]() | Etheostoma caeruleum Storer, 1845 | 1929 | Trautman, M. B. (Milton Bernard) & Foster, R. (Robert) | Scioto Brush Creek, 1 mi north of Otway, ~1.2 mi NW of Otway, Brush Creek township |
![]() | Etheostoma nigrum Rafinesque, 1820 | 1929 | MB Trautman | Scioto Brush Creek, 1 mile north of Otway, Brush Creek Twp |
All 203 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Storms near this place
31 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rarden in 31 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 11 thunderstorm wind, 9 flood, 6 flash flood, 5 hail. 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 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rarden | $20,000 | Trees were downed and structural damage, including roof damage, occurred due to damaging thunderstorm winds. |
| November 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rarden | $15,000 | Numerous trees were downed throughout the northern portion of the county. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rarden | $10,000 | Trees were knocked down onto a home along Hazelmaker Road. |
| May 2010 | Flash Flood | Rarden | $10,000 | State Route 73 and highway 772 were closed due to high water. A few families were also evacuated. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rarden | $10,000 | A fifteen foot shed was blown into a utility pole. |
| August 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rarden | $10,000 | Several trees downed, one of which fell on a car. |
| May 1997 | Flash Flood | Rarden | $10,000 | Several streets flooded by over 6 inches of rainfall in only a few hours. |
| November 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rarden | $5,000 | Power lines and trees knocked down. |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rarden | $3,000 | A tree was knocked down onto a car on OH-73. |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rarden | $3,000 | Trees were downed. |
| August 2003 | Hail | Rarden | $3,000 | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rarden | $2,000 | Six trees were reported down on roads in the area due to damaging thunderstorm winds. |
| May 2010 | Flash Flood | Rarden | $2,000 | Multiple roads were flooded due to heavy rainfall. |
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rarden | $1,000 | A tree was downed across State Route 73. |
| August 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rarden | $1,000 | A few large tree limbs were knocked down. |
| July 2007 | Hail | Rarden | $1,000 | no account filed |
| February 2025 | Flood | Rarden | - | State Route 73 was closed due to high water near Rarden. |
| February 2025 | Flood | Rarden | - | High water was reported on Hazelbaker Road. |
| January 2023 | Flood | Rarden | - | Several roads throughout the county remained closed due to high water. |
| February 2021 | Flood | Rarden | - | State Route 73 was closed in both directions due to flooding. |
| May 2020 | Flood | Rarden | - | State Route 73 was closed due to high water. |
| February 2020 | Flood | Rarden | - | High water closed a few roads from Rarden to east of Portsmouth. |
| February 2020 | Flood | Rarden | - | State Route 73 was closed near Rarden due to high water. |
| February 2019 | Flood | Rarden | - | State Route 73 was closed due to flooding at Rarden. |
| February 2019 | Flood | Rarden | - | High water was over State Route 73, near the Adams County line. |
| July 2003 | Flash Flood | Rarden | - | A few roads were submerged in water upto four feet deep iin some spots. |
| May 2003 | Flash Flood | Rarden | - | Numerous roads across the northern part of the county were covered with high water. Roads closed included State Route 73 near Rarden, and State Route 139 in Minford. |
| April 2002 | Flash Flood | Rarden | - | Several roads were closed in and around town due to high water up to three feet in some spots. Several homes were evacuated across the northwestern part of the county, and the Rarden Fire Department was forced to evacuate their building. |
| April 2016 | Hail | Rarden | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Hail | Rarden | - | no account filed |
| August 1997 | Hail | Rarden | - | 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.
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 Rarden | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2118567 | 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 1061585. 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.
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.






















