New Albany's water, sewers and bathrooms, from a village of a few hundred to a city
In 1899 the village of New Albany told the Ohio State Board of Health that its lack of any arrangement for removing night soil was the worst nuisance it had. For the next eighty years it stayed a village of a few hundred people; since 1980 it has grown more than twentyfold. This page follows the public record from the 1837 plat to school water systems deactivated in the federal record in 1993 and water and sewer service from Columbus, with the census since 1890 and when New Albany's houses were built.
Last updated September 2026 · Records are the Ohio State Board of Health's, the Census Bureau's and the federal drinking water record, with the city's statements marked as the city's, each read September 24, 2026 · No prices on this page; the Estimate Builder carries those · Part of the knowledge base
Laid out in 1837, chartered in 1856
The two county histories agree that New Albany was laid out in May 1837 and held its first village election in April 1856; the 1909 history and the city's 2024 financial report date its incorporation to 1856. They disagree on the first proprietor's first name: the 1880 history gives Daniel Landon and William Yantis, and the 1909 history gives Noble Landon and William Yantis. Both are given here. The city's 2024 financial report says New Albany officially obtained its classification as a city in April 2011.
1899: no arrangement for night soil
New Albany's report to the Ohio State Board of Health for 1899 gives the village's population as about 300, by the health officer's estimate, and says there were no arrangements for the removal of night soil, the contents of privy vaults, which it called the worst nuisance the village had. A search of the text of the reports from 1886 to 1913 found no mention of a public water supply or a sewer system for New Albany; the 1887 and 1889 reports could not be searched.
A village of a few hundred until 1980
For ninety years the census found New Albany a village of a few hundred: 223 people in 1890, 268 in 1950, a peak of 513 in 1970, and 409 in 1980. Then it grew in every count, to 1,621 in 1990, 3,711 in 2000, 7,724 in 2010 and 10,825 in 2020, and its housing went from 168 units in 1980 to 3,573 in 2020.
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1890 | 223 |
| 1900 | 224 |
| 1910 | 215 |
| 1920 | 200 |
| 1930 | 215 |
| 1940 | 221 |
| 1950 | 268 |
| 1960 | 307 |
| 1970 | 513 |
| 1980 | 409 |
| 1990 | 1,621 |
| 2000 | 3,711 |
| 2010 | 7,724 |
| 2020 | 10,825 |
| Year | Housing units |
|---|---|
| 1970 | 162 |
| 1980 | 168 |
| 1990 | 633 |
| 2000 | 1,424 |
| 2010 | 2,653 |
| 2020 | 3,573 |
Wells, and then Columbus
The federal drinking water record carries no village water system for New Albany. What it does carry are small well systems at the village's schools, an apartment complex, a few businesses and a church, each deactivated on a recorded date, the school systems in 1993 and the others in 1987, 1993 and 2018. Those dates suggest, but do not prove, that Columbus water reached the schools about 1993; no document read for this page dates New Albany's water or sewer contract with Columbus, or its first sewers.
| Well | System deactivated |
|---|---|
| New Albany Elementary School well | March 1, 1993 |
| New Albany Middle and High School wells | July 1, 1993 |
| Colony Apartments well | March 1, 1999 |
Today the city says it owns all of the water mains within the city limits and contracts with Columbus to provide water and maintain them, with Columbus billing customers, and that its more than 60 miles of sewer lines carry wastewater to Columbus for treatment. How the Columbus system came to serve its suburbs is on the page on Columbus sewers, then and now, and each town's provider is on the page on water and sewer providers, town by town.
When New Albany's houses were built
New Albany's housing is almost all recent. In the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 survey the median year built for its 3,851 housing units is 2005, plus or minus 2, and about seven in ten were built in 2000 or later. The houses built in 1939 or earlier number 71, 1.8 percent. The page on Central Ohio house styles by era sets the town's newer houses against the region's older ones.
| Built | Housing units |
|---|---|
| 2020 or later | 181 (4.7 percent) |
| 2010 to 2019 | 1,059 (27.5 percent) |
| 2000 to 2009 | 1,493 (38.8 percent) |
| 1990 to 1999 | 739 (19.2 percent) |
| 1980 to 1989 | 37 (1.0 percent) |
| 1970 to 1979 | 154 (4.0 percent) |
| 1960 to 1969 | 76 (2.0 percent) |
| 1950 to 1959 | 12 (0.3 percent) |
| 1940 to 1949 | 29 (0.8 percent) |
| 1939 or earlier | 71 (1.8 percent) |
The short version. New Albany was laid out in May 1837 and incorporated in 1856, and in 1899 it told the Ohio State Board of Health it had no arrangements for removing night soil, the worst nuisance it had. It stayed a village of a few hundred people until 1980, when the census counted 409, and grew to 10,825 by 2020; it became a city in April 2011. The federal record shows the school water systems deactivated in 1993, and today the city owns its mains and buys water, and sewage treatment, from Columbus. The median house was built in 2005.
Sources
Every figure, date and quotation on this page comes from one of these documents, read on the date given. Where two of them disagree, the page says so.
- Williams Brothers, History of Franklin and Pickaway Counties, Ohio, 1880; read September 24, 2026.
- William A. Taylor, Centennial History of Columbus and Franklin County, 1909; read September 24, 2026.
- Ohio State Board of Health, Annual Reports, 1886 to 1913, full text at the Internet Archive (items annualreportofst followed by the year and ohio), searched for New Albany; read September 24, 2026.
- Ohio Auditor of State, City of New Albany, 2024 annual comprehensive financial report; read September 24, 2026.
- City of New Albany, Water and Sewers, the city's own statement; read September 24, 2026.
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Safe Drinking Water Information System records through Envirofacts; read September 24, 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau: 1900 Bulletin 41, 1920 Number of Inhabitants, Ohio, 1950 Volume I, Ohio, 1960 Volume I, Ohio, the 1990 and 2010 Population and Housing Unit Counts for Ohio, and the 2020 census counts through TIGERweb; read September 24, 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 5-year estimates, tables B25034 and B25035, for the place, through Census Reporter; read September 24, 2026.
Common questions
When was New Albany founded?
Two county histories say New Albany was laid out in May 1837 and held its first charter election in April 1856, though they give different first names for its first proprietor; the 1909 history and the city's 2024 financial report say it was incorporated in 1856. The city's 2024 financial report says it officially became a city in April 2011.
Where does New Albany water come from?
From Columbus. The City of New Albany says it owns all of the water mains within the city limits and contracts with Columbus to provide water and maintain them, with Columbus billing customers, and that its sewer lines carry wastewater to Columbus for treatment.
How fast did New Albany grow?
The census counted 409 people in New Albany in 1980, 1,621 in 1990, 3,711 in 2000, 7,724 in 2010 and 10,825 in 2020. From 1890 to 1980 it had stayed between 200 and 513.
Did New Albany ever use wells?
The federal drinking water record lists well-supplied water systems at New Albany Elementary School deactivated on March 1, 1993, at the middle and high schools on July 1, 1993, and at the Colony Apartments on March 1, 1999. It lists no village water system.
How new are the houses in New Albany?
In the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 survey the median year built for New Albany's 3,851 housing units is 2005, and about seven in ten were built in 2000 or later. 71 units, 1.8 percent, were built in 1939 or earlier.
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