This township occupies the extreme northwestern corner of Madison County, and is one of the smallest of the fourteen townships comprising said county. It is also one of the most regular, in its contour and general form, being nearly a perfect parallelogram, while nearly all of the other townships of the county are remarkable for their irregularity in shape. Pike is bounded north by Union County, east by Darby Township, south by Monroe and Somerford Townships and west by Champaign County. It was one of the early constituted townships of the county, as upon the records at London we find the following account of its erection, bearing date September 5, 1814: "At a meeting of the Commissioners, present Joshua Ewing and William Gibson, ordered, that the following bounds compose a new township, to be known and designated by the name of Pike. Beginning where the State road interesects the north boundary of Madison County and running from thence with said road, so as to include the same till it intersects the Urbana road; thence southwardly on a line half a mile east of Little Darby, till it intersects Jefferson Township line at Mark's survey; thence to Peter Paugh's, southeast corner; thence westwardly with Deer Creek township line to Champaign County line, and with said county line to the northwest corner of Madison County, and thence with the line between Madison and Delaware to the beginning." In the erection of Union County in 1820, a portion of the above-described territory was embraced in that county, and consequently the north boundary line was changed and Pike made smaller in territory. Again, on March 4, 1839, another change was made in the township of Pike, as follows: "At a meeting of the Commissioners of Madison County, ordered that the following boundaries compose the township of Pike (as surveyed January 24, 1839, by William B. Irwin), to wit: Beginning at the northwest corner of Madison County, thence running on the line between Madison and Union Counties, east by the variation six miles to an elm, corner to Darby Township, Madison County; thence with the line of Darby Township south three miles and 106 poles to four elms; thence south 80 degrees west (by the needle) six miles and thirty poles, to the original southeast corner of Pike township, in the line of Champaign County; thence with said line north four miles to the beginning."
From Atlas of Madison County by J.A. Caldwell, Condit, Ohio (1875)
It is the north west township of the county, bounded on the east by Darby, south by Monroe and Somerford Townships, west by Champaign, and north by Union Counties, like Monroe, it is composed of oak openings and prairies. The soil is level, with a black loam; large farms and fine herds of cattle roam over the extensive fields. Little Darby is the principal stream. Liverpool, (Rosedale P.O.) is the only village in the township, located near the center. It has a very good store, a blacksmith shop, and a fine school house. A turnpike which starts at Mechanicsburgh, in Champaign County, runs east to Liverpool and so on into Little Darby; close to its eastern boundary at Liverpool, there is a branch pike which bears east of north, and extends to the Union County Line. West of Little Darby, the timber is principally oak, with some elm and hickory, on the east banks, oak, hickory, elm and white ash. The Cincinnati, Springfield and Cleveland Rail Road passes across the north-west corner. Mrs. Jacob Weaver, Henry King, Dockums, Mr. Philis, Esq., the Wilsons and Dr. Converse are some of the early settlers of this township.
Pike township was one of the early constituted townships of Madison county, as upon the commissioners' records we find the following account of its erection, bearing date September 5, 1814: "At a meeting of the commissioners, present Joshua Ewing and William Gibson, ordered, that the following bounds comprise a new township, to be known and designated by the name of Pike. Beginning where the state road intersects the north boundary of Madison county and running from thence with the said road, so as to include the same till it intersects the Urbana road; thence southwardly on a line half a mile east of Little Darby, till it intersects the Jefferson township line at Mark's survey; thence to Peter Paugh's southeast corner; thence westwardly with Deer Creek township line to Champaign county line. and with said county line to the northwest corner of Madison county, and thence with the line between Madison county and Delaware to the beginning."
In the erection of Union county in 1820, a portion of the above described territory was embraced in that county, and consequently the north boundary line was changed and Pike township made smaller in territory. Again, on March 4, 1839, another change was made in the township of Pike, as follows: "At a meeting of the commissioners of Madison county, ordered that the following boundaries compose the township of Pike (as surveyed January 24, 1839, by William B. Irwin), to wit: Beginning at the north west corner of Madison county, thence running on the line between Madison and Union counties, east by the variation six miles to an elm, corner to Darby township, Madison county; thence with the line of Darby township south three miles and one hundred and six poles to four elms; thence south eighty degrees west (by the needle) six miles and thirty poles, to the original southeast corner of Pike township, in the line of Champaign county; thence with the said line north four miles to the beginning."
After the permanent boundaries had been fixed, it was one of the smallest of the fourteen townships comprising Madison county. It is also one of the most regular townships in the said county, its contour and general form being nearly a perfect parallelogram, while nearly all of the other townships of the county are remarkable for their irregularity of shape. This township occupies the extreme northwest corner of Madison county and is bounded on the north by Union county, on the west by Champaign county, on the south by Monroe and Somerford townships and on the east by Darby township.