Madison Township Communities

During pioneer days, when the slow-moving horse was the chief means of transportation within the township, its 25,000 acres seemed to be a large area. People began to consider themselves as part of a particular community within the township's boundaries. Each was usually centered around a crossroads village. The first Census of 1820 listed 1228 residents in the township, a figure which increased to 1826 in 1820 and in 1830 to 2229. The villages as listed in the 1830 Census showed Trenton to be the largest with 109 people, followed by Miltonville with 10 1, and West Liberty with 59. Middletown at the time had 530 people. By 1830 the land was settled, so population growth was slow for several decades. By 1870 the township's population was only 2450. By that time the villages were listed as Madison (West Middletown) 158 population; Miltonville, 179; Poasttown, 200; and Trenton, 340.

Poasttown, West Middletown and Trenton, along with Brownstown were located along the Great Miami River. Miltonville and Trenton, via the old bridge at Gunckel's mill which carried the traffic of the Franklin-Trenton Road, served as centers for the Elk Creek Valley, as did Poasttown and Middletown for Browns Run. Woodsdale in the extreme south owed its growth to the Miami-Erie Canal and its bridge over the Great Miami, along with the race from the river that furnished the water power for the development of the early paper industry at that point. Since the story of the Great Miami has already been told, that of its two major tributaries in Madison Township will be explored, along with the story of their development and the people who lived there and the towns they founded.

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