Bowling Green dates to 1832, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 85% of U.S. towns · #235 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 184 buildings between them. Below: 13 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1870.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1834.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bowling Green’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bowling Green is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #235 of 993 in Ohio. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bowling Green’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 Bowling Green’s 62.0 sits above most of its state (90% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 186 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±1.9 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1832.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Bowling Green’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.
Places that used to be
Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Bowling Green’s post office has been open since 1834.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Asbury HillsGypsy Lane Estates Mobile Home ParkMaple Hill Mobile Home ParkMeadowvaleNorthridge EstatesPark View Mobile Home VillageQuail HollowThe VillageWestgate HomesWintergarden Heights
Gone or out of use
Avery Air Service Airportairport
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bowling Green
Oak GroveOld Oak Grove
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every building
Bowling Green, building by building, 1884–1915
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.
Bowling Green was first settled in 1832, was incorporated as a town in 1855, and became a city in 1901. The village was named after Bowling Green, Kentucky, by a retired postal worker who had once delivered mail there.
In 1868 Bowling Green was designated as the county seat, succeeding Perrysburg.
With the discovery of oil in the area in the late 19th and early 20th century, Bowling Green enjoyed a boom to its economy. The results of wealth generated at the time can still be seen in the downtown storefronts, and along Wooster Street, where many of the oldest and largest homes were built. A new county courthouse was also constructed in the 1890s. The Neoclassical US post office was erected in 1913.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bowling Green. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1901Bowling Green 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 Bowling Green.
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 viewWood County Jail, 1900
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bowling Green’s page.
In 1832, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Bowling Green’s post office opened in 1834, and the census of 1870 counted 906 people here.
How does Bowling Green rank for history?
Bowling Green is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #235 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 Bowling Green?
5 listings: 2 buildings and 3 historic districts, the Wood County Courthouse And Jail, the Main Street Historic District and the Boom Town Historic District, with 184 contributing buildings. 186 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Bowling Green?
13% of Bowling Green’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.9 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 (1), Wikidata (1), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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