Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Avon Lake

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
BHistory
History · Avon Lake

Avon Lake’s post office opened in 1848, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 55% of U.S. towns · #588 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it

Most of Avon Lake was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Its Register listing is the Peter Miller House. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1986 on, and the census since 1920.

1848first post office
1on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Avon Lake’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Avon Lake began

When was Avon Lake founded?

1848

The Avon Lake post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1912. Another post office, Beach Park (1899), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 904 in 19202020 census: 25,206178 years

How historic is Avon Lake?

B

More historic than 55% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Avon Lake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1912.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Avon Lake’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Avon Lake is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #588 of 993 in Ohio. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Avon Lake’s overall grade.
Founding era1848, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19406.0% of homes (±2.2) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 0.4 per 10,000 residents · typical OH town 2.9 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 55%
NewerOlder
Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 41%

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 Avon Lake’s 0.4 sits near the middle of its state (47% 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 C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share (±2.2 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1912.

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 Avon Lake’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Avon Lake, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1848: 178 years of Avon Lake.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Avon Lake’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Avon Lake’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewErieview School, Avon Lake, Ohio (88287): stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Avon Lake had its own post office from 1848 to 1905. Another post office, Beach Park, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Avon Lake
1848–1905
Beach Park
1899–1912
Avon Lake
1912–today
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Avon PointBeech ParkFolger
1cemetery inside Avon Lake
Lake Shore

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Timeline

Avon Lake, 1848 to 1991

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1848Post officeThe Avon Lake post office opens
  3. 1899Post officeThe Beach Park post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1905Post officeThe Avon Lake post office closes
  6. 1912Post officeThe Beach Park post office closes
  7. 1912Post officeThe Avon Lake post office opens
  8. 1930In the archiveErieview School, Avon Lake, Ohio (88287)
  9. 1931Born hereDick Tomanek is born here
  10. 1982Born hereCarmella DeCesare is born here
  11. 1986On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 1987Born hereAngela Funovits is born here
  13. 1991Born hereZach D'Orazio is born here
The story

How Avon Lake came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Avon Lake.

Read it all →

Avon Lake was first settled in the 17th century and was, along with Avon, Bay Village, and Westlake, inhabited by the Erie. After the war with the Iroquois in 1656 ended the people were largely dispersed or integrated into Iroquois society. The area was then sparsely populated until the Lenape and Wyandot migrated into the area in 1700. The first European settlement in the area was founded in 1786 by Moravian missionaries. The Northwest Indian War resulted in the Indians in the area giving up all land East of Cuyahoga River in the Treaty of Greenville. Undoubtedly this was the start of European contact with the peoples in Avon Lake, who now found themselves in the Connecticut Western Reserve. Any remaining Indian claims to their land were removed after the 1818 Treaty of St. Mary’s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Avon Lake, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s4 items
Erieview School, Avon Lake, Ohio (88287)c. 1930Erieview School, Avon Lake, Ohio (88287)PostcardFire station -- Old Village Hall in background -- Avon Lake, Ohio (88288)c. 1930Fire station -- Old Village Hall in background -- Avo…PostcardSt. Joseph Roman Catholic Church and school, Avon Lake, Ohio (88289)c. 1930St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church and school, Avon Lak…PostcardTypical shore scene on Lake Erie, Avon Lake, Ohio (88290)c. 1930Typical shore scene on Lake Erie, Avon Lake, Ohio (88…Postcard
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
20240418 03 Lake Shore Electric202420240418 03 Lake Shore Electric20240418 02 Lake Shore Electric202420240418 02 Lake Shore ElectricLake Erie 8 03 15 371000 PM2020Lake Erie 8 03 15 371000 PMMUTCD-OH D1-H15 (straight)2016MUTCD-OH D1-H15 (straight)Loner - Flickr - Bien Stephenson2005Loner - Flickr - Bien Stephenson
On the map

Avon Lake on the map in 1986

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Avon Lake.

Avon Lake on the 1986 USGS map1986Put-In-Bay sheet · 1:100,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Avon Lake.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Erieview School, Avon Lake, Ohio (88287)
Retake this viewErieview School, Avon Lake, Ohio (88287), c. 1930

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Avon Lake’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Avon Lake

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Peter Miller House
Peter Miller House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Peter Miller HouseGreek Revival

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Avon Lake, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00019201940196019802000202025,206

Grew from 904 people in 1920 to 25,206 in 2020, more than tenfold.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Avon Lake’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

5 famous people were born in Avon Lake

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
C
Carmella DeCesareAmerican model · b. 1982
A
Angela FunovitsAmerican magician, mentalist, and physician · b. 1987
D
Dick TomanekAmerican baseball player · b. 1931
Z
Zach D'OrazioAmerican football player · b. 1991
B
Brian MihalikAmerican football player · b. 1992
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Avon5 historic placesB−Sheffield Lake1 historic placeBBay Village4 historic placesCSheffield4 historic placesB+

Questions about Avon Lake’s history

What year was Avon Lake founded?

The Avon Lake post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1912.

How does Avon Lake rank for history?

Avon Lake is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #588 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 Avon Lake?

One place: the Peter Miller House (listed 1978).

How old are the homes in Avon Lake?

6% of Avon Lake’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.2 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1989.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) 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.