Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1923 on, and the census since 1840.
The Dayton post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Pleasant Grove (1830), East Leon (1846) and Cottage (1851), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dayton is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Dayton’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (10% of New York towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Dayton’s post office has been open since 1835. Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dayton’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Dayton.
The first settlers arrived circa 1810, believing they were settling in Chautauqua County. The Town of Dayton was founded in 1835, formed from the town of Perrysburg.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Dayton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
($) Charles W'illoughby Dayton, Laura Canfield Spencer Dayton Fessenden, William Adams Dayton, Harold Child Dayton. (9) Charles W'illoughby Dayton, Jr., Aymar Child Dayton, Elizabeth Smalhvood Dayton,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Dayton is a flourishing post town, and the seat of justice for Montgomery county. It is situated on a beautiful level, on the east bank of tlie Great Miami river, immediately below its confluence with Mad river, its main eastern branch, and one mile below the mouth of Stillwater, its principal western tributary. It was laid out in August, 1795, and the first settlement was made in the spring of 1796. It is in hit. 39° 46' N. and Ion. 84°
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
county. The southern part, containing several valuable manufacturing establishments, and a number of grist mills and distilleries, enters its shipments at the Middletown office, 24 miles below Dayton. Dayton is not excelled by any other city in the west for water privileges. The very many seats on Mad river^ Dayton Lock, and Cooper's Race, hold out great at-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
"The friends of William Sohmer, encouraged by the effectiveness of the Dayton boom, attempted to start a stampede for Sohmer. They created some stir, but as the Sohmer storm spent its force the Dayton boom again broke loose, gathering volume with every effort of the Dayton men to stampede the convention.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveView of Mainline crossing - Erie Railway, Dayton Tunnel, Allen Street VicinityOne decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dayton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Dayton.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Dayton’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 946 and 2,004 people in every census since 1840.
19 censuses, 1840–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Dayton’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Dayton itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Dayton post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Dayton is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns. 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.
40% of Dayton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.1 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1954.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (9), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1971
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2022
2021
2018
2012
2012
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2003
