Founding year: the first Ashville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Ashville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ashville is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #328 of 993 in Ohio. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ashville’s overall grade.
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 Ashville’s 2.2 sits near the middle of its state (53% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±11.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Ashville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Ashton CrossingAshton VillageBrandon CourtLittle ChicagoSuburban VillageTedrows Mobile Home Park
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every building
Ashville, building by building, 1901–1926
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1901Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
On the map
Ashville on the map, 1914 to 1992
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ashville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1914Circleville sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Ashville.
Long before the American settlement of Ohio, Hopewell Native Americans inhabited the lands that became Ashville. The Snake Den Mounds were constructed a few miles outside of the present day village and were believed to have been built prior to C.E. 500. The site was examined in the late 1890s by Warren K. Moorehead, where he found artifacts of the ancient civilization and skeletal remains.
Centuries later the primary inhabitants were the Pekowi band of the Shawnee. This band of natives was the name sake for Pickaway County. The Pekowi people lived in the area for much of the 18th Century, but eventually left as America pushed westward.
Very little business was done at Ashville from the time of the closing of the distillery | until 1874, when the building of the Scioto i Valiev Railroad (now the Norfolk & Western) through the length of Harrison township gave a new impetus to business. The depot of the road was located at Ashville in the following . vear, as was the postoffice, with George h .
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
PICKAWAY COUNTY, OHIO HISTORY AND FAMILIES1810Read the page →
Read the text
Fisher. According to an early Discipline, the circuit riders were not to take offerings of money, but the Church was obligated to feed the preacher and provide for his horse. With the incorporation of Ashville in 1880, anew U.B. Church was built, Rehobeth Church closed and their members transferred to the Ashville Church. The circuit became Ashville (now Ashville Zion) and Scioto Chapel remained as a charge until 1985.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
PICKAWAY COUNTY, OHIO HISTORY AND FAMILIES1810Read the page →
Read the text
In 1870, William Cromley, gave the Norfolk and Western Railroad access through the east side of the farm. This rail system bordering on the town of Ashville, Ohio was for the improvement of commerce. Throughout the years numerous parcels of land were gifted to the town; for a school, housing, streets and later a city sewage system.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Mahlon Ashbrook, Mr. Dunnick’s uncle, was the founder of the town of Ashville, which was named in his honor. About the year 1850 he was the wealthiest man in Pickaway County, conducting the largest store and selling more produce than any one in the county.
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.
Timeline
Ashville, 1816 to 1938
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
The Ashville post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Ashville rank for history?
Ashville is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #328 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.
What is on the National Register in Ashville?
One place: the Ashville Depot (listed 1980).
How old are the homes in Ashville?
24% of Ashville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.4 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (5), the National Register of Historic Places (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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
1938
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1938