Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 72% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1850.
The Byesville post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1882.
More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Byesville is more historic than 72% 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 Byesville’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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Byesville’s history is told.
Peaked at 3,156 in 1910; 2,364 people lived here in 2020.
16 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Byesville’s Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Byesville. 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 Byesville.
From Wikipedia’s history of Byesville.
Byesville was platted in 1856, and named for Jonathan Bye, the owner of a local mill. The village was incorporated in 1881.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Byesville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The first cars were run on the electric line between Cambridge and Byesville in the autumn of 1903 (October 21) over the Cambridge Consolidated Company's line, later styled the Cambridge Power, Light & Traction Company, but at this time known as the Midland Power & Traction Company. The road was opened up to the Byesville limit five weeks earlier than that date, but not clear to Byesville.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Byesville, by a number of persons. It is located in Jackson township and was platted November 26, 1881 (as an incorporation), but the original platting had been executed on section 6, township 1, range 2, July 1, 1856.
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.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
1905Sheet 1 of 4Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Byesville’s page.
Retake this view · +15Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Byesville post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1882.
Byesville is more historic than 72% 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.
35% of Byesville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.6 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1962.
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 (2), 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.
