Aurora dates to 1799, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 70% of U.S. towns · #429 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of Aurora was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 21 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1906 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1811.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Aurora’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Aurora is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #429 of 993 in Ohio. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Aurora’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 Aurora’s 13.7 sits above most of its state (78% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 24 historic buildings outnumber those of 80% 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 (±3.4 points). Two sources give 1799.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Aurora’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1799, Ebenezer Sheldon, a former Revolutionary War soldier, settled in Aurora and built a cabin on east pioneer trail. Shortly after, he brought his family from Connecticut to live in the new settlement. In 1807 alone, 72 settlers came to Aurora, and two years later, the first frame house was built. Most people in Aurora at the time lived along the three main roads; The Cleveland–Warren road, the Chillicothe Turnpike, and the Old Mill road. At the intersection of the three roads, inns and stores were built for settlers and travelers in Aurora. By the mid-1800s, the Chillicothe road was lined with shops, hotels, taverns, and a school. In 1862, one of the first cheese factories, the Silver Creek Cheese Factory, was built by Frank and Elisha Hurd. Ten years later, in 1872, the Aurora Station was constructed, and it became a major commercial area for the town. By the end of the 1800s, se…
Passages that mention Aurora, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Portage County, Ohio1885 · page 561Read the page →
Read the text
Streetsboro was the last township organized in the county, leaving Garrettsville out of the enumeration. It was, in 1800, made a portion of Hudson, now a township of Summit County, and so remained until 1806, when it became a portion of Aurora, under whose convoy it sailed till 1821, when Aurora cut loose from it, and Mantua took it under her wing and kept her safely there till 1827, when the township thought herself big enough to go alone, which she has done, and with credit to herself, too, standing for years No. 1 in the manufactiire of cheese, and high in other products.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Portage County, Ohio1885 · page 484Read the page →
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In 1816 a brick church was erected at Aurora Center for this society. Justus Parrish and others supplied the brick. Previous to 1816 this society held meetings in the first schoolhouse.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Portage County, Ohio. Containing a history of the county, its townships, towns, villages, schools, churches, industries, etc1885 · page 484Read the page →
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In 1816 a briok church was erected at Aurora Center for this society. Justus Parrish and others supplied the brick Previous to 1816 this society held meetings in the first sohoolhonse.
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
Aurora, 1799 to 2002
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1799, according to Wikidata. Aurora’s post office opened in 1811, and the census of 1880 counted 222 people here.
How does Aurora rank for history?
Aurora is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #429 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 Aurora?
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Zeno Kent House (listed 1973, the first), and 1 historic district, the Aurora Center Historic District, with 21 contributing buildings. 24 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Aurora?
5% of Aurora’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1989.
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 (2), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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), 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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