On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Elsmere is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #105 of 142 in Kentucky. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Elsmere’s overall grade.
Kentucky towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kentucky town has 29.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Elsmere’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (12% of Kentucky towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.5 points). Two sources give 1885.
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 Elsmere’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The community was first settled in 1885 as "South Erlanger". Elsmere has historically been a largely African-American city, and originally had an African-American school house Known as the Dunbar School on Spring Street. Elsmere also had an African-American baseball team. There is also a park on Capitol Avenue named after Rosella Porterfield, who taught at the Historic Dunbar School. Elsmere organized as a city in 1896, renamed after Elsmere Avenue in Norwood, Ohio, the hometown of one of its founders.
In 1885, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1900 counted 519 people here.
How does Elsmere rank for history?
Elsmere is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #105 of 142 in Kentucky. 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.
How old are the homes in Elsmere?
13% of Elsmere’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Kentucky town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
