Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns · #586 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Below: maps from 1903 on and old-book passages.
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Allen Township is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #586 of 993 in Ohio. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
Ohio towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Ohio town has 2.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Allen Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Allen Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Allen Township. 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 Allen Township.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Allen Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Allen Township is one of the seventeen townships of Hancock County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 2,754.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,533 to 2,754 (+9%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Allen Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Township. William Marvin erected a water-mill on the Blanchard in Section 22, Marion Township, in 1835-3(3, and subsequently a steam mill farther up the river in the same township. A small grist-mill was put up on Portage Creek, in Section 17, Allen Township, about the same time by John Burman. In 1838 Martin Funk built a grist-mill on Eagle Creek, in Section 11, Madison Township; and two years aft,erward a steam-mill was erected in Section 2, Cass Township, by James Anderson. In 1844 the Eagle Mills in East Findlay were built i3y Martin Huber, John Engleman
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Upon the erection of Allen Township, in 1850, the two eastern tiers of sections of Portage were taken in the formation of the new subdivision, leaving it with an area of twenty-four square miles, or 15,360 acres, and no change has since occurred in its territory. Portage is bounded on the north by Wood County, on the east by Allen Township, on the south by Liberty
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 SurveyNobody well known was born in Allen Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, Mortimer, 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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Allen Township is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #586 of 993 in Ohio. 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.
28% of Allen Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.7 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (4), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
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