Ocean View dates to 1889, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 31% of U.S. towns · #28 of 37 in Delaware. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Tunnell-West House and the Evans-West House. Most of Ocean View was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2006. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1918 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1833.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Ocean View’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ocean View is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #28 of 37 in Delaware. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ocean View’s overall grade.
Delaware towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Delaware town has 29.4 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Ocean View’s 14.0 sits near the middle of its state (47% of Delaware towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share (±1.4 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1889.
Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Ocean View’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Until the late 17th century, European settlers bypassed the area where Ocean View now lies because of the poor quality of its sandy, salty soil and the salt air that blew in from the Atlantic Ocean; they preferred to settle a few miles farther inland, where the land was higher and drier and the soil richer. Would-be settlers also faced a legal complication in obtaining land in what is now Ocean View, because Lord Baltimore claimed the area as part of his Maryland colony, while William Penn asserted that the area belonged to the Delaware Colony; settlers opted to look elsewhere for land to which they could receive clear title from an undisputed authority.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1889, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Ocean View’s post office opened in 1833, and the census of 1910 counted 302 people here.
How does Ocean View rank for history?
Ocean View is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #28 of 37 in Delaware. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Ocean View?
Two places: the Tunnell-West House (listed 2012) and the Evans-West House (2015).
How old are the homes in Ocean View?
2% of Ocean View’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Delaware town; the median home was built in 2006.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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