Template:Wp-Boardman Township, Mahoning County, Ohio-History

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The community of Boardman was founded by Elijah Boardman, a land agent from Connecticut, in the late 1780s. The township was formally established in 1806, although the township government lists it as 1805 on its seal, documents, and signage. It is the only Boardman Township statewide. Though the northern areas of Boardman are suburban spillover from Youngstown, Boardman was traditionally an agricultural community with grain crops and apple orchards. Around the turn of the century, the railroad led to Southern Park, a horse racing facility on Washington Boulevard. Thus the area was an early draw for Youngstown urbanites. Because of its agricultural nature and proximity to Youngstown, Boardman was ripe for strip development starting as early as 1950.

Edward J. DeBartolo Sr., a shopping mall developer from Youngstown, began his company in Boardman. Boardman Plaza on U.S. Route 224 was one of the first strip malls in the country. Established in 1950 by DeBartolo, the plaza had three full-service grocery stores within a few hundred feet of each other. Today one must travel at least to get the same food service. Later, circa 1970, DeBartolo opened the more contemporary Southern Park Mall near the intersection of US 224 and Market Street.

Also around 1950, the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company, one of the largest steel manufacturers in the country, opened a headquarters complex in Boardman across from the DeBartolo Corporation. Here, a whole new "suburban" work environment was started; with a white shirt dress code, it was antiseptic and wholly removed from the dirt and grit of the steel mills farther north. When the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company closed in 1977, a large campus was left for others to develop. Today, the former headquarters is the center of numerous medical offices and facilities, a Dunkin' Donuts, and a branch of Youngstown State University.

The fast food chain Arby's opened its first location in Boardman in 1964. The chain moved to a new building in the 1990s across the street from the original building on Route 224 next to St. Charles Catholic Church where it currently operates. The Arby's is owned and operated by the now internationally known chain. The original building was occupied by a bird shop until 2021 and is now vacant.