Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns · #833 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of Brimfield was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1969. Below: maps from 1906 on and old-book passages.
Brimfield dates its founding to 1816 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1834.
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brimfield is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #833 of 993 in Ohio. Its age holds 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 Brimfield’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: 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 →
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 Brimfield’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Brimfield. 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 Brimfield.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWikipedia doesn’t have a history of Brimfield yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Brimfield Township is one of the eighteen townships in Portage County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 11,352 people in the township.
Brimfield was established in 1816. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 3,343 in 2010, 3,365 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Brimfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
And now, citizens of Brimfield, I offer you a suggestion that I know ought and I believe will, meet your most hearty and united approval, and that is, that you erect, in this beautiful park, a memorial granite monument, dedicated to Brimfield’s pioneers, upon which shall be inscribed the name of the head of every family tvho lived in Brimfield 50 years ago to-day, and also the names of all pioneers who had died previous to that date, with the date of their arrival in town. In doing this you will simply do your duty. I present you here the cut of a granite monument 18 feet high, which, to my mind, would be ap-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
if they would call it Thorndike, which was agreed to and it was so named officially, but the old "Ingun Giver" backed out of the contract and would not make a deed for the ground, so the citizens petitioned and had the name changed to Brimfield, in honor of John Wyles, Jr., to whom his father had in the meantime bequeathed his interest. Wyles, Jr., resided in the town of Brimfield, Hampden Co., Mass. ; hence the name. At the division of the property of the Connecticut Land Company, townships were drawn and awarded without regard to the quality of the land, or its location, but in some
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1816, according to Wikidata. Brimfield’s post office opened in 1834.
Brimfield is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #833 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.
2% of Brimfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.
