At the 2020 census, its population was 4,020 (up from 3,996 in 2010[3]) and it contained 1,624 housing units,[4] 75% of which were in areas adjacent to Owensville.

Thomas "Purty Old Tom" Montgomery came to southern Knox County in 1805 and marked an oak tree near a spring.

Something delayed his return with his family to claim that land, so he ended up settling on the west bank of Black River near the present site of Owensville.

He was one of seven sons of Hugh Montgomery Sr., of Virginia to fight in the Revolutionary War.

The township contains ten cemeteries: Montgomery, Smith, Benson, Clark, Knowles, Mauck, Oak Grove, Old Union, Skelton, Owensville and Wilson.