Bellefontaine dates to 1817, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns · #71 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 72 buildings. Below: 15 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1820.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1820.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bellefontaine’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bellefontaine is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #71 of 993 in Ohio. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bellefontaine’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 Bellefontaine’s 55.0 sits above most of its state (89% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 76 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.1 points). Two sources give 1817.
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 Bellefontaine’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Bellefontaine, building by building, 1887–1914
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.
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 name Bellefontaine means "beautiful spring" in French, and is purported to refer to several springs in the area. However, locally, the original French pronunciation is not used, and it is pronounced "bell fountain."
Around 1777, the Shawnee war chief Blue Jacket (Weyapiersenwah) built a settlement here, known as "Blue Jacket's Town". Blue Jacket and his band had previously occupied a village along the Scioto River, but the American Revolutionary War had reached the Ohio Country. Blue Jacket and other American Indians who took up arms against the American revolutionaries relocated in order to be closer to their British allies at Detroit.
The town of Bellefontaine was incorporated by an Act of the Legislature, dated February 19, 1835.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Zanesfield and sketches of the interesting and historical places of Logan County1900 · page 33Read the page →
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Bellefontaine, Ohio The city of Bellefontaine was laid out in 1820. Its location was once an Indian village and the home of the Shawnee Chief Blue Jacket. A few years previous to 1820 a town site was selected just south of the pres-
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History of Logan County and Ohio1880 · page 424Read the page →
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one mile east of Jerusalem on the road leading to West Mansfield, its constituent members having been previously connected with the Lutheran Church in Bellefontaine, worshiping in the old brick meeting-house on South Main Street. It was constituted under the auspices of the Rev. Shaffer of that place. The New Salem meeting-house was
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History of Logan County and Ohio1880 · page 428Read the page →
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one mile east of Jerusalem on the road leading to West Mansfield, its constituent members having been previously connected with the Lutheran Church in Bellefontaine, worshiping in the old brick meeting-house on South Main Street. It was constituted under the auspices of the Rev. Shaffer of that place. The New Salem meeting-house was
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Bellefontaine, 1817 to 1987
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bellefontaine. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1913Bellefontaine 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 Bellefontaine.
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.
Retake this viewBenjamin Stanton-ppmsca.26739, 1857
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bellefontaine’s page.
In 1817, according to Wikidata. Bellefontaine’s post office opened in 1820, and the census of 1820 counted 170 people here.
How does Bellefontaine rank for history?
Bellefontaine is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #71 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 Bellefontaine?
5 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Logan County Courthouse (listed 1973, the first), 1 historic district, the Downtown Bellefontaine Historic District, with 72 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 76 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Bellefontaine?
30% of Bellefontaine’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1966.
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 (12), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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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