Wayne Township

Wayne Township, named for the Revolutionary War general, [Mad] Anthony Wayne, was organized from part of Zanesville and a portion of Salt Creek Township on March 7, 1826. The area had attracted settlers from Pennsylvania and Virginia as early as1802. James Finley, who came from Pennsylvania, is thought to be the first white settler. Finley was a weaver, and it's said that he supplied homespun cloth to other early settlers such as the Mercer, Dunn, Kepler, Sedwick, Corbin, and Pringle families. 

There are no municipalites in Wayne Township, but there is one census-designated place--the village of Duncan Falls. The village is named for a set of treacherous rapids and waterfalls at that point on the Muskingum River. The falls themselves are named for a hunter-trapper known as "Major" Duncan who came to the area in the 1790's. The story is that he clashed with some Shawnee over his traps, and was killed will trying to cross the river at the falls.

Bowen and Dugan's gristmill is across the river in this
 postcard illustration

Settlers in the area that would become Wayne Township were primarily wheat and corn farmers. They had to travel two days upriver to get their crops ground for sale, until someone recognized the potential power that existed because of the falls. In 1832, an enterprising settler named James Taylor (he built the first store in what would become the village of Duncan Falls, and also ran a ferry across the river) built a dam across the falls to harness water power in an attempt to entice millers to the area. In 1836 a four-storey gristmill was built by Lewis Dugan and William Bowen. The mill served township farmers until the early 1920's when it was purchased by Ohio Power and torn down.

The busy Mr. Taylor next platted the townsite of Duncan Falls in 1841. He had previous experience in laying out villages, having platted Taylorsville (across the river) in 1833. Taylorsville became the village of Philo. A bridge connecting the two population areas was built in 1875. A post office was established in Duncan Falls in 1890, and it still in service today. Duncan Falls population has grown steadily from 1880 when it had just 200 residents. In 2020 Duncan Fall's population was just under 900 people.

Like all communities along the Muskingum River, Duncan Falls was severely damaged by the Great Flood of March 23-26,1913. The bridge connecting Duncan Falls and Philo was ripped away. It took over a year to replace the old structure with a truss bridge. During construction, a wooden foot bridge connected the two villages.