Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns · #723 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of Blue Ash was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 10 buildings. Below: maps from 1898 on and the census since 1960.
The Blue Ash post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Hazlewood (1860), Brough (1882) and Blue Ash (1887), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Blue Ash is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #723 of 993 in Ohio. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Blue Ash’s 7.4 sits above most of its state (70% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 10 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% 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 Blue Ash’s history is told.
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Blue Ash. 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 Blue Ash.
From Wikipedia’s history of Blue Ash.
The area that is now Blue Ash was settled around 1791. In 1797, the first settlers built Carpenter's Run Baptist Church out of blue ash logs, giving the area its eventual name.
In the late 19th century, the Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway provided narrow-gauge commuter rail service to Blue Ash.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Blue Ash, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Blue Ash derives its name from the old church and school of that name, for which it was suggested by the prevailing character of the timber in the surrounding region. The first name of the railroad station was Harper, which was conferred in honor of President Harper, of the Cincinnati, Lebanon & Northern railway.
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.
BuiltBrown-Gorman Farm is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereAmy Yasbeck is born hereThe 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 8,324 and 13,394 people in every census since 1960.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Blue Ash’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Blue Ash post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Blue Ash is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #723 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.
One place: the Brown-Gorman Farm (listed 2012).
4% of Blue Ash’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (4), 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), 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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