Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 89% of U.S. towns · #170 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1912 on and the census since 1820.
The Bethlehem Township post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 89% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bethlehem Township is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #170 of 993 in Ohio. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 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 Bethlehem Township’s 23.6 sits above most of its state (82% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 13 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% 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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bethlehem Township’s history is told.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bethlehem Township. 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 Bethlehem Township.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bethlehem Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Bethlehem Township is one of the seventeen townships of Stark County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 5,520 people in the township.
Its first post office opened in 1828. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 5,347 to 5,520 (+3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
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.
Between 489 and 5,803 people in every census since 1820.
20 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bethlehem Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Bethlehem Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Bethlehem Township post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Bethlehem Township is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #170 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.
4 listings: 1 building, among them the St. Paul's Reformed Church (listed 2006, the first). 13 historic buildings in all.
22% of Bethlehem Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
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