Bucyrus’ post office opened in 1823, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns · #83 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
10 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 58 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1830.
Founding year: the first Bucyrus post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bucyrus’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bucyrus is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #83 of 993 in Ohio. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bucyrus’ 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 Bucyrus’ 58.7 sits above most of its state (90% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 68 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Bucyrus’ 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.
Every building
Bucyrus, building by building, 1884–1922
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.
The origin of the name Bucyrus is not certain. It was given by James Kilbourne, who laid out the town in 1821. One theory is that the name Bucyrus is derived from "beautiful" coupled with the name of Cyrus the Great, founder of the First Persian Empire. An alternate theory is that the city was named after Busiris, a city of ancient Egypt.
The Bucyrus Foundry and Manufacturing Company, a predecessor to Bucyrus International, Inc. was founded in Bucyrus in 1880. The company moved to Wisconsin in 1893.
Bucyrus was once home to the Dostal Brothers Brewery. Founded in 1902, the brewery was run by John M. and George A. Dostal.
Passages that mention Bucyrus, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Crawford County, Ohio1912 · page 194Read the page →
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Bucyrus township was named after the town of Bucyrus, the town being named between Oct. 1st and Dec. 15, 182 1. It was created by the commissioners at Delaware in 1822, and consisted of territory 12 miles wide extending from the southern boundary of the present Bucyrus township to the present northern boundary of the county, the present
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Crawford County, Ohio1912 · page 91Read the page →
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no opposition as the county seat. To facilitate this movement, Samuel Norton issued the follow agreement : "Know ye that I, Samuel Norton, of Bucyrus, in Crawford county and State of Ohio, have agreed, and do agree, as this instrument witnesseth, that in case the county of Bucyrus should be established by law at the approaching session of the Legislature,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Crawford County and Ohio1881 · page 362Read the page →
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should be successful, and he made the following agreement with a committee of citizens : To all whom it may concern : Know ye that I, Samuel Norton, of Bucyrus, in Crawford County and State of Ohio, have agreed, and do agree, as this instrument witnesseth, that, in case the county of Bucyrus should be established by law at the approaching sessioTi of the Legislature, for which petitions will be
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Crawford County and Ohio1881 · page 597Read the page →
Read the text
These advantages, such as they were, obviated the necessit}' of building schoolhouses near Bucyrus until the surrounding country became, so thickly populated as to render such a course advisable. The result was that schoolhouses were built in settlements five or more miles from Bucyrus, a number of years before those nearer the town. Although the southern part
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
Bucyrus, 1823 to 1925
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.
The Bucyrus post office opened in 1823, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Bucyrus rank for history?
Bucyrus is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #83 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 Bucyrus?
10 listings: 9 buildings, among them the Picking, D., And Company (listed 1974, the first), and 1 historic district, the Bucyrus Commercial Historic District, with 58 contributing buildings. 68 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Bucyrus?
28% of Bucyrus’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.1 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1957.
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 the Library of Congress (6), the National Register of Historic Places (10), 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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