Chapter 3 - Communities-Census Designated

Lake Choctaw
ZIP Code 43140 – Coordinates: 39°57′39″N 83°29′15″W

2024 Population 2,148.
 
Lake Choctaw began in 1964 when American Realty Service Corp dammed Deer Creek and George’s Fork Creek to make a lake.  Houses then were built around it, creating a population high enough to be counted in a census separately.  It is considered as neither incorporated or unincorporated. It is a privately owned business that operates as the Choctaw Lake Property Owners Association which is governed by an elected board of trustees and has assigned sheriff’s deputies and a lake patrol.  Its youth attend London Public Schools or St Patrick Catholic School. It has over 800 homes built around the Lake.  Some are seasonal.  The water comes from the Deer Creek watershed and is fed by runoff and drainage from 15,616 acres of farmland in Madison, Clark, and Champaign counties that drain into Deer and George’s Fork Creeks.  The creeks supply 60% of the water, the rest from local runoff from ditches and small creeks. The water drains into Deer Creek, down to Madison Lake, then south to Deer Creek State Park, into the Scioto River, into the Ohio River, eventually draining into the Gulf of Mexico.  The community has many events each year.  Access to the lake for boating and fishing is restricted to property owners and guests with passes.  
Lafayette

ZIP Code 43140 – Coordinates39°56′27″N 83°24′20″W 

Population 206 at 2020 Census.

Lafayette is a census-designated place in Deer Creek Township on U.S. Route 40 just west of the intersection of US Route 42. Lafayette was laid out on October 1, 1834, by William Minter, and named in honor of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. On December 31, 1836, the Lawrenceville Post Office was moved to Lafayette, renamed Lafayette Post Office, with John Minter as the first postmaster of the new branch. As of 1875, the community contained one drug store, one dry goods and grocery store, and one blacksmith shop. The post office was discontinued on December 31, 1905, with mail service going through the London branch.  As of 1915, the community contained three general stores and one blacksmith shop.

Lafayette is also home to the Red Brick Tavern, one of 11 properties on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Madison County, Ohio.

Plumwood

ZIP Code 43140 – Coordinates: 40°00′32″N 83°24′53″W

Population was 200 in 1915.  As of 2020 it was 240.  As of 2024, it is 316. 

Plumwood is a census designated place in Monroe Township at the intersection of SR 38 and Arthur Bradley Road, 8 1/2 miles north of London. The Spring Fork of Darby Creek flows past the community.

Sanford  was laid out December 23, 1895 by Charles F. Sanford.  The community was renamed to Plumwood sometime before 1915.  It was one of the largest trade centers in the county with three large general stores, a blacksmith, six threshing outfits, and three hay baling outfits.

There is an elementary school there today.

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