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

Thornville, Ohio

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1909 and the latest in 1992. It stands in Thorn Township. It lies in ZIP code area 43076. The Survey maps it on the Thornville quadrangle. 1,087 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,030 feet above sea level.

Thornville within Perry County

Population over time

2 figures

Thornville grew from 991 to 1,087 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	991
2020	1,087	+96 (+10%)

Then and now

1909 to 1992

The same ground, surveyed 83 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Thornville, surveyed 1992

Topographic sheet of Thornville, surveyed 1909

Compare 1909 against another survey:

Topographic sheets covering this place

14 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.

In the county-history sources

165,003 words on this township

1883 History Perry County, Ohio, published 1883 names this settlement in its chapter on Thorn Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

The internal improvements of Thorn township, until 1871, consisted of the common road only, but Millersport, in Fairfield county, is only a short distance from the northwest corner of the township, and is situated on the canal, and it became the place where most of the wheat was sold. Brooke & Lewis, Thorn township merchants (one from Thornville and the other from New Salem), built a warehouse on the canal a little east of Millersport, and, for several years, purchased nearly all the surplus wheat of the township, which, in the '30s, and up into the *40s, was very large, and the principal export, as the surplus corn was nearly all sold to drovers, and fed on the ground; for, until cattle were shipped East by the cars, there were large numbers from Southern Ohio, Kentucky, and Northern Indiana, driven through this township on the wav to the Eastern market. ;

Passage source: 1883 History Perry County, Ohio, published 1883.

In 1832, the Asiatic cholera raged fearfully in the central-southern part of the township, and a large number of deaths occurred. George Clum and William Friend, who lived in the cholera region, were about . the only grown male persons who did not take it; and yet, as long as the dreadful scourge raged there, these two men visited the sick, the dying, and prepared the dead for burial, neither of them sleeping in a bed for several weeks, so constant and untiring were they engaged in their sel@sacrificing ministrations. Dr. William Trevitt then resided in Thornville, distant five or six miles from the infected district. He was a skillful physician, and saved every case he reached before the patient got into a certain condition.. He kept three horses constantly bridled and saddled, and rode both day and night. Two of his horses dropped dead under the spur. He saved one of his patients after his horse fell dead, though he ran a considerable distance with his saddle-bags on his arm. If he had arrived five minutes later, it is believed, his patient would have died. After Henderson (tor that was the patient's name) got well, he went to Trevitt's office and inquired for his bill. Trevitt turned to his book, and told him the ordinary charge of only two or three dollars. Henderson asked'him what his horse was worth. Trev- : itt told him that he had paid eighty dollars for him, only a few days before. Thereupon Henderson took out his pocket-book and counted out eighty-five dollars, and offered the money to Trevitt, who declined to take any thing but his regular fee, which he took and put in his pocket. Henderson then took out change so as to leave just eighty dollars remaining, the price of the horse, which he left upon the counter, with an emphatic remark, that that money belonged to Trevitt; and not to him. The cholera raged fearfully for several weéks, and then disappeared as suddenly as it came. It was very bad in Newark, Licking county, at the same time.

Passage source: 1883 History Perry County, Ohio, published 1883.

As rich and populous as Thorn is, it was, for a long time, destitute of internal improvements, was off the main thoroughtares of travel and commerce, and occupied a somewhat isolated position. Still, the farmers managed to market their surplus products without any very serious difficulty. There was the National pike only a few miles north, and the Zanesville and Maysville pike, only a little further south. There was the Ohio Canal, with a warehouse at Millersport, just over the township line, in Fairfield county ; and, with the one convenient market, and the two other not distant outlets, the people managed to get along comfortably and make money. There was an every other day mail and hack line between Lancaster and Newark, passing by way of Thornville; so, after these two places obtained railroads, the inhabitants of Thorn could get away without much difficulty, when they wished to make a railroad journey to distant parts of the country. - Previous to the railroad era, they were even better situated, comparatively, for they could reach a through line of stages at Jacksontown, only a few miles north, or at Somerset or Rushville, not much farther south. There was, at one time, a turnpike projected to run from Lancaster to Newark, by the way of Thornville, ad engineers surveyed the line, The undertaking received no great encouragement, however, and was soon abandoned. It is said that Samuel Hite, the old pioneer, was the only man, through whose land the line was run, who was friendly to the enterprise.

Passage source: 1883 History Perry 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 Thorn Township - it names this place 43 more 43 times.

Fires near this place

5 since 2007

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of Thornville between 2007 and 2020, burning about 52 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
Debris and open burning	4
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	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
7 September 2007	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Ohio Department of Natural Resources	not named
17 February 2017	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Ohio Department of Natural Resources	7408
3 November 2020	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	Ohio Department of Natural Resources	15925
28 November 2017	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Ohio Department of Natural Resources	9968
23 October 2015	Debris and open burning	50 acres	Ohio Department of Natural Resources	3048

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Perry County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 130 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 130 specimens collected within 10 miles of Thornville between 1900 and 1965: 116 Animalia, 8 Plantae, 6 Fungi. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by Auten, Breakey, David H. Stansbery 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
Uromyces scirpi Burrill	1902	Kellerman, W.A.	Buckeye Lake
Dicentra cucullaria (L.) Bernh.	1900	Williamson, E.B.	New Salem
Puccinia muhlenbergiae Arthur & Holw.	1902	W. A. Kellerman	Buckeye Lake
Uromyces (Link) Unger, 1833	1902	W. A. Kellerman	Buckeye Lake
Cercosporella cana (Sacc.) Sacc.	1903	Kellerman, W.A.	Buckeye Lake
Absconditella sphagnorum Vzda & Poelt	1910	F. Detmers	Buckeye Lake, Cranberry Island
Sphagnum palustre L.	1910	R. F. Griggs	Buckeye Lake
Sphagnum recurvum P.Beauv.	1910	R. F. Griggs	Buckeye Lake
Orchelimum nigripes Scudder, 1875	1923	Fulton, B.B	Buckeye Lake
Atrichopogon levis (Coquillett, 1901)	1925	not recorded	Buckeye Lake
Nilobezzia mallochi Wirth, 1962	1925	not recorded	Buckeye Lake
Probezzia Kieffer, 1906	1925	not recorded	Buckeye Lake

All 130 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Thornville: 1 plant. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where	Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
	Busse Quarry & Mill	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Plant

Every working recorded in Perry County

Storms near this place

33 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Thornville in 33 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 16 thunderstorm wind, 11 hail, 3 flood, 3 flash 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 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Thornville	$1,000,000	Numerous large branches and trees fell across Perry County. Over 10,000 customers lost electricity. One shelter was set up in Crooksville High School in which 28 people stayed overnight. Fire houses were used as cooling stations and also to feed citizens. Some private stores gave away their foods before it would spoil. \|\|Public damage which includes damages to roads and clearing debris was on the order of $600,000. There was one indirect death to a 69 year old male that occurred in the Thornville vicinity. He had health issues, but the lack of electricity in the aftermath of the storm contributed to his death.
June 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Thornville	$50,000	A bow echo type event with winds estimated at around 75 mph damaged outbuildings and caused an old barn to collapse. Several old and large trees were snapped.
July 2017	Flash Flood	Thornville	$30,000	Multiple creeks across northern Perry County flooded following heavy rain. The majority of the flooding was along Jonathan Creek, Honey Creek, Bowling Green Creek and their smaller tributaries. Many roads were closed due to high water, including Route 204 and 668 between Thornville and Mount Perry. Zartman Road was closed west of Thornville, and Blackbird Lane was closed north east of Thornville. Honey Creek Road was also closed just west of Thornport. Township Roads 21 and 390B both had sections washed out. A vehicle drove into high water along Boundries Road and the driver had to be rescued by the fire department.
June 2008	Flood	Thornville	$25,000	no account filed
February 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Thornville	$15,000	Trees were blown onto power lines.
June 2013	Flash Flood	Thornville	$10,000	One local downpour drifted south through extreme northern Perry County. This was in the vicinity of eastern reaches of Buckeye Lake. Roads were flooded from the county line on south toward Thornville. This included Boundary Road. Water was 1 foot deep on Honey Creek Road and Route 13. No dwellings were affected. \|\|Rain estimates were over 3 inches in less than 2 hours.
April 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Thornville	$5,000	Trees were blown down along Zion Road.
May 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Thornville	$5,000	Numerous trees were blown down.
June 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Thornville	$5,000	The sheriff department reported trees down across roads.
March 2008	Flood	Thornville	$5,000	no account filed
November 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Thornville	$4,000	Several trees were downed across the eastern and southern portions of Thornville.
March 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Thornville	$4,000	Three power poles were snapped along Route 204 west of Thornville.
April 2025	Hail	Thornville	$3,000	no account filed
August 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Thornville	$2,000	Several trees were downed near the town of Thornville.
March 2008	Flood	Thornville	$2,000	Small streams, such as Jonathan Creek, flooded and blocked roads.
July 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Thornville	$500	In Thornville, multiple trees were blown down within the town.
May 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Thornville	$500	One tree was blown down near the intersection of State Route 13 and Zion Branch Road.
July 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Thornville	$500	A tree was blown down along Zion Road.
November 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Thornville	$500	A tree was downed across Route 188.
August 2022	Flash Flood	Thornville	$250	Portions of State Route 204 were flooded between Thornville and Glenford.
July 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Thornville	-	Trees and large branches were blown down.
June 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Thornville	-	Several trees were blown down.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Thornville	-	Trees and large branches were blown down.
September 1998	Hail	Thornville	-	Hail as large as nickels fell.
May 2025	Hail	Thornville	-	no account filed
April 2025	Hail	Thornville	-	no account filed
April 2025	Hail	Thornville	-	no account filed
May 2022	Hail	Thornville	-	no account filed
June 2011	Hail	Thornville	-	no account filed
March 2011	Hail	Thornville	-	no account filed
June 2009	Hail	Thornville	-	no account filed
July 2003	Hail	Thornville	-	no account filed
May 2002	Hail	Thornville	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Perry 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
Thornport	1.2 miles	14
Firemans Park	2.4 miles	14
Bruno	3.3 miles	12
Walser	3.7 miles	12
Ziontown	4.3 miles	11
Yost	4.7 miles	12
Glenford	5.5 miles	12
Glass Rock	7.1 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 Thornville	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q547541	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 1049246. 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.

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.