Austinburg Township is one of the twenty-seven townships

Civil township

A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States, subordinate to, and geographic divisions of, a county. Specific responsibilities and the degree of autonomy vary based on each state. Civil townships are distinct from survey townships, but in states that have both,...

 of Ashtabula County

Ashtabula County, Ohio

Ashtabula County is the northeasternmost county in the state of Ohio. As of 2010, the population was 101,497, its county seat is Jefferson. The county is named for a Native American word meaning "river of many fish"....

, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The 2000 census

United States Census, 2000

The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...

 found 2,234 people in the township.

Geography

Located in the northwestern part of the county, it borders the following townships:

• Saybrook Township
  Saybrook Township, Ashtabula County, Ohio
  Saybrook Township is one of the twenty-seven townships of Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 10,051 people in the township, 5,957 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.-Geography:...
  
   - north
• Plymouth Township
  Plymouth Township, Ashtabula County, Ohio
  Plymouth Township is one of the twenty-seven townships of Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 2,081 people in the township.-Geography:Located in the northern part of the county, it borders the following townships:...
  
   - northeast corner
• Jefferson Township
  Jefferson Township, Ashtabula County, Ohio
  Jefferson Township is one of the twenty-seven townships of Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 5,559 people in the township, 1,987 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.-Geography:...
  
   - east
• Lenox Township
  Lenox Township, Ashtabula County, Ohio
  Lenox Township is one of the twenty-seven townships of Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 1,388 people in the township.-Geography:Located in the center of the county, it borders the following townships:*Jefferson Township - north...
  
   - southeast corner
• Morgan Township
  Morgan Township, Ashtabula County, Ohio
  Morgan Township is one of the twenty-seven townships of Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 1,954 people in the township, 780 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.-Geography:...
  
   - south
• Trumbull Township
  Trumbull Township, Ashtabula County, Ohio
  Trumbull Township is one of the twenty-seven townships of Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 1,461 people in the township.-Geography:Located on the western edge of the county, it borders the following townships:...
  
   - southwest corner
• Harpersfield Township
  Harpersfield Township, Ashtabula County, Ohio
  Harpersfield Township is one of the twenty-seven townships of Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 2,603 people in the township.-Geography:Located on the northwestern edge of the county, it borders the following townships:...
  
   - west
• Geneva Township
  Geneva Township, Ashtabula County, Ohio
  Geneva Township is one of the twenty-seven townships of Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 11,954 people in the township, 3,814 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.-Geography:...
  
   - northwest corner

No municipalities are located in Austinburg Township, although the unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 of Austinburg

Austinburg, Ohio

Austinburg is a census-designated place in northern Austinburg Township, Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States. Although it is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 44010. It lies at the intersection of State Routes 45 and 307....

 lies in the township's north.

Name and history

It is the only Austinburg Township statewide.

The township was first settled by several people from Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

, who arrived in 1799. During the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, the township was a location on the Underground Railroad

Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...

.

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, 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.