Fairfield Township is one of thirteen

townships A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

in Butler County,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is located in the south central portion of the county. The population was 22,645 at the 2020 census. Before annexations by the cities of

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

and Fairfield, it had an area of about .

Name

Fairfield Township's name is reflective of the gentle topography in the township. It is one of seven Fairfield Townships statewide.

History

In 1795, upon the signing of the

Treaty of Greenville The Treaty of Greenville, formally titled Treaty with the Wyandots, etc., was a 1795 treaty between the United States and indigenous nations of the Northwest Territory (now Midwestern United States), including the Wyandot and Delaware peoples, ...

, the court of general quarter sessions of the peace for Hamilton County created Springfield and Fairfield townships out of the northern reaches of Cincinnati Township. Fairfield Township became part of a newly formed Butler County in 1802. For a brief period in 1994 and 1995, the township was incorporated as the City of Indian Springs under a special law enacted by the

Ohio General Assembly The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus ...

, but it reverted to township status when this law was declared unconstitutional by the courts.

Geography

Located in the southern part of the county, it borders the following townships, cities, and villages: * St. Clair Township - north, across the

Great Miami River The Great Miami River (also called the Miami River) (Shawnee: ''Msimiyamithiipi'') is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accesse ...

* Madison Township - northeast * Liberty Township - east, north of West Chester Township *

West Chester Township West Chester Township is one of the thirteen townships of Butler County, Ohio, United States, located in the southeastern corner of the county. It is situated between Sharonville and Liberty Township, about north of Cincinnati, and is included ...

- east, south of Liberty Township * Fairfield - south * Ross Township - southwest *

- west * New Miami - northwest Because the course of the

has changed since its borders were fixed, some of the township is now west of the river. The lowest point in Butler County, elevation , is in the township, where the Great Miami River crosses the county line, the township's southern boundary.

Government

The township is governed by a three-member board of trustees, who are elected in November of odd-numbered years to a four-year term beginning on the following January 1. Two are elected in the year after the presidential election and one is elected in the year before it. There is also an elected township fiscal officer,§503.24§505.01
an
§507.01
of the

Ohio Revised Code The ''Ohio Revised Code'' contains all current statutes of the Ohio General Assembly of a permanent and general nature, consolidated into provisions, titles, chapters and sections. However, the only official publication of the enactments of the G ...

. Accessed 4/30/2009. who serves a four-year term beginning on April 1 of the year after the election, which is held in November of the year before the presidential election. Vacancies in the fiscal officership or on the board of trustees are filled by the remaining trustees. Because of proposed annexations by the city of Hamilton, state representative Michael A. Fox on September 29, 1994, secured special legislation that allowed the township to incorporate as a city under the name Indian Springs. On December 29, 1994, this law took effect and the new city was born. (Also on that date, the city of Fairfield was withdrawn from the township.) However, the courts struck down the law on December 20, 1996, and Indian Springs reverted once more to Fairfield Township, but the City of Fairfield remained outside the township.

Transportation

The

Miami and Erie Canal The Miami and Erie Canal was a canal that ran from Cincinnati to Toledo, Ohio, creating a water route between the Ohio River and Lake Erie. Construction on the canal began in 1825 and was completed in 1845 at a cost to the state government of $ ...

once ran through the township between

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

and

. The Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad, now part of

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

, has its mainline through the township. Major highways include

State Route 4 Route 4, or Highway 4, may refer to several highways in the following countries: International * AH4, Asian Highway 4 * European route E04 * European route E004 * Cairo – Cape Town Highway Albania * SH-4 road in Albania from Durres to Kakav ...

(the main road between Hamilton and Middletown) and the Butler County Regional Highway (aka State Route 129).

U.S. Route 127 U.S. Route 127 (US 127) is a north–south U.S. Highway in the eastern half of the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at US 27 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The northern terminus is at Interstate 75 (I-75) near G ...

, leading south to Cincinnati, passes through Hamilton west of the township.

References

*Bert S. Barlow, W.H. Todhunter, Stephen D. Cone, Joseph J. Pater, and Frederick Schneider, eds. ''Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio''. Hamilton, Ohio: B.F. Bowen, 1905. *Jim Blount. ''The 1900s: 100 Years In the History of

Butler County, Ohio Butler County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 390,357. Its county seat is Hamilton. It is named for General Richard Butler, who died in 1791 during St. Clair' ...

.'' Hamilton, Ohio: Past Present Press, 2000. *Butler County Engineer's Office. ''Butler County Official Transportation Map, 2003''. Fairfield Township, Butler County, Ohio: The Office, 2003. *''A History and Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio with Illustrations and Sketches of Its Representative Men and Pioneers''.

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

: Western Biographical Publishing Company, 1882

*John Kieswetter. "Indian Springs name sticks: Township had moment as city". ''

The Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, alth ...

''. November 17, 200

* Ohio Secretary of State, Ohio. Secretary of State. ''The Ohio municipal and township roster, 2002–2003''.

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

: The Secretary, 2003.

External links

Township websiteCounty website
{{authority control Townships in Butler County, Ohio 1803 establishments in Ohio Townships in Ohio