Turtle Creek Township is one of the fourteen 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 Shelby County

Shelby County, Ohio

As of the census of 2000, there were 47,910 people, 17,636 households, and 13,085 families residing in the county. The population density was 117 people per square mile . There were 18,682 housing units at an average density of 46 per square mile...

, 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 1,583 people in the township.

Geography

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

• Van Buren Township
  Van Buren Township, Shelby County, Ohio
  Van Buren Township is one of the fourteen townships of Shelby County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 1,599 people in the township, 1,424 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.-Geography:...
  
   - north
• Franklin Township
  Franklin Township, Shelby County, Ohio
  Franklin Township is one of the fourteen townships of Shelby County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 2,842 people in the township, 1,773 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.-Geography:...
  
   - northeast
• Clinton Township
  Clinton Township, Shelby County, Ohio
  Clinton Township is one of the fourteen townships of Shelby County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 20,903 people in the township, 1,223 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.-Geography:...
  
   - southeast
• Washington Township
  Washington Township, Shelby County, Ohio
  Washington Township is one of the fourteen townships of Shelby County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 2,083 people in the township, 1,875 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.-Geography:...
  
   - south
• Cynthian Township
  Cynthian Township, Shelby County, Ohio
  Cynthian Township is one of the fourteen townships of Shelby County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 1,972 people in the township.-Geography:Located in the western part of the county, it borders the following townships:*McLean Township - north...
  
   - southwest
• McLean Township
  McLean Township, Shelby County, Ohio
  McLean Township is one of the fourteen townships of Shelby County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 3,082 people in the township, 1,738 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.-Geography:...
  
   - northwest

A small portion of the city of Sidney

Sidney, Ohio

Sidney is a city in Shelby County, Ohio, United States. The population was 20,211 at the 2000 census. It is named after English poet Sir Phillip Sidney and is the county seat of Shelby County.Sidney was the recipient of the 1964 All-America City Award...

, the county seat

County seat

A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

 of Shelby County, is located in southeastern Turtle Creek Township.

Name and history

It is the only Turtle Creek Township statewide, although there is a Turtlecreek Township in Warren County

Turtlecreek Township, Warren County, Ohio

Turtlecreek Township is one of the eleven townships of Warren County, Ohio, United States. It is in the central part of the county and surrounds the county seat of Lebanon. Turtlecreek is the largest township in the county, originally containing sixty-three whole and seven fractional sections. ...

.

The first village in Shelby County Ohio was Hardin (named after Colonel John Hardin

John Hardin

John J. Hardin was a soldier, farmer, rancher, noted marksman and hunter. He was wounded fighting in Lord Dunmore's War; served as a Continental Army officer in the American Revolutionary War and as a Kentucky Co., Virginia militia commander in the Northwest Indian War...

), which was platted October 5, 1816; after the county was organized in 1819, it became the seat of justice and the first Court of Common Pleas

Ohio Courts of Common Pleas

The Ohio Courts of Common Pleas are the trial courts of the state court system of Ohio.The courts of common pleas are the trial courts of general jurisdiction in the state. They are the only trial courts created by the Ohio Constitution . The duties of the courts are outlined in Article IV, Section...

, and session of the County Commissioners was held there. In 1820 the county seat

County seat

A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

was established at Sidney. The Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis Railroad established one mile south of the village a railroad crossing called "Hardin Station".

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.