Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 76% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1907 on, and the census since 1880.
The Bremen post office opened in 1801, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 76% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bremen is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Bremen’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bremen. 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 Bremen.
From Wikipedia’s history of Bremen.
Bremen was platted in 1834. The village was named after Bremen, in Germany.
The Bremen Oil Field was discovered in 1907, setting off an oil boom, which lasted until the early 1920s. Oil Derrick Days are celebrated every September, as a way for the town to remember its oil industry heritage.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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.
1909Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Passages that mention Bremen, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Two railroads pass through Rush Creek Township, the Toledo and Ohio Central with the only station of the township at Bremen, and the Cincinnati and Muskingum Valley with a station also at Bremen. There is no electric line through this township. (1912.)
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Dr. Driver settled first at Basil, O., and practiced there for nineteen years and from there came to Bremen in 1899 and continued in practice here until the time of his death, April 26, 1910. His burial was in Grandview Cemetery at Bremen. Dr. Driver was a man who stood high both personally and professionally. He was a thirty-second degree Mason, was a mem-
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.
In the archiveGreetings from Bremen, O. M.E. Church
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveSouth Broad, St
In the archiveHistory of Bremen Jerusalem Church: Jerusalem Road3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bremen’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 248 people in 1880 to 1,479 in 2020, 5 times over.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bremen’s Wikipedia page.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
The Bremen post office opened in 1801, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Bremen is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns. 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.
48% of Bremen’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.2 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1944.
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 (12), 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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