Brecksville dates to 1811, and 11 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns · #378 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of Brecksville was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1903 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1829.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Brecksville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brecksville is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #378 of 993 in Ohio. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Brecksville’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 Brecksville’s 25.6 sits above most of its state (83% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 35 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1811.
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 Brecksville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Brecksville was founded in 1811, four years after several men—including Colonel John Breck—purchased the surrounding area. After the land was surveyed, Seth Payne, one of the surveyors, brought his family and settled in the area in June 1811, and he was soon followed by many other families. Although Colonel Breck never lived in Brecksville, his three sons did, and members of his family continued to live in Brecksville until 1934, when his great-grandson Dr. Theodore Breck died. An early historical account of Brecksville was written by William R. Coates and published by The American Historical Society in 1924.
Brecksville was incorporated as a village in 1921, and it gained the status of city in 1960.
Passages that mention Brecksville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Wilcox family history. Being some account of the first five generations in direct line from William Wilcockson of Stratford, Connecticut, to Josiah Wilcox of Brecksville, Ohio1911Read the page →
Read the text
A true and accurate inventory of the goods and chattels of Ambrose AVillcox — late of the Township of Brecksville, in the County of Cuyahoga, deceased, as presented to the undersigned, Gary Oakes, Elisha Rice, and Russia Bagley, appraisers appointed by the Court of Common Pleas of said county by Eleanor Willcox, Executrix and Edwin AVillcox, Executor of said estate, this J 4th day of June, A. D. 1836:
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.
Timeline
Brecksville, 1811 to 1993
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
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.
In 1811, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Brecksville’s post office opened in 1829, and the census of 1880 counted 116 people here.
How does Brecksville rank for history?
Brecksville is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #378 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 Brecksville?
11 listings: 9 buildings, among them the Brecksville Town Hall (listed 1973, the first), 1 historic district, the Jaite Mill Historic District, with 11 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 35 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Brecksville?
6% of Brecksville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (9), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (11), 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.
1975
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1975
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