Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 97% of U.S. towns · #39 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 180 buildings. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1820.
The Barnesville post office opened in 1813, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 97% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Barnesville is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #39 of 993 in Ohio. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
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 Barnesville’s 459 sits above most of its state (98% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 181 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% 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.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
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.
1885Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Barnesville. 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 Barnesville.
From Wikipedia’s history of Barnesville.
The town was named after James Barnes, who was the first settler. Barnes was born in Montgomery County, Maryland and was married to Nancy Harrison, "an intelligent Quaker lady". Barnes owned a farm in Montgomery County, and later laid out a town there, also known as Barnesville, Maryland, where he operated a country store for a while.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Barnesville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The social and conventional changes in Barnesville since 1832 deserve special notice. In 1832 at Barnesville Christinas day was paid no more attention to than New Year's day is now. Then New Year's day was like Christmas is now, and Christmas as New Year's day is now. Of course there were a very few families that kept Christmas as it is now.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
I have now given a sketch of the buildings and lots of the town of Barnesville as it appeared in L832, To give the reader a better understanding of the different changes which time has made, the history of the town will be divided into three periods, the first period extending from the year of the founding of the town — 1808 to L832, the second from 1832 to L852, and the third from L852 to the present— 1898.
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.
Born hereMilton Barnes is born here
Born hereElisha Gray is born here
Born hereIsaac Parker is born here
Born hereJoseph J. Gill is born here
In the archiveMilton Barnes
In the archiveBarnesville, Ohio 1899
In the archiveJoseph J. Gill
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveFriends Boarding School, East of
In the archiveTHE OWNERS OF THIS FARM SOLD OUT TO THE HANNA COAL COMPANY IN 1972, OFF ROUTE 800, NEAR B…5 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Barnesville’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 291 and 5,002 people in every census since 1820.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Barnesville’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Barnesville’s post office has been open since 1813.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
The Barnesville post office opened in 1813, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Barnesville is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #39 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.
Two places: the Barnesville Historic District (listed 1984) and the Barnesville Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Depot (1985).
32% of Barnesville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.4 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1963.
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 (15), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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, 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.
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