Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 11 buildings. Below: maps from 1901 on and the census since 1870.
The Caledonia post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Vanbuskirks (1832), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
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 Caledonia’s history is told.
Peaked at 792 in 1970; 560 people lived here in 2020.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Caledonia’s Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Caledonia. 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 Caledonia.
From Wikipedia’s history of Caledonia.
The village was named after Caledonia, an ancient name for Scotland, the ancestral home of a large share of the first settlers.
The northern side of Caledonia is the location of the Caledonia Bowstring Bridge, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Caledonia, cut from the printed page as they were published.
nearest post office to Beadle's settlement; the next in order was the “ Radnor settlement,” below Middletown, and lastly “ Kirby’s” or “ Welsh’s settlement,” in Grand Prairie Township, on the Indian trail from Owl Creek to Upper Sandusky, through where Caledonia now is. ‘his Indian trail was all the road we had anywhere through this region, yet all through the winter and early spring emigrants were alighting down for settlement like Colorados on a potato patch. We must have roads from one settlement to the other, and more especially east and south to the old settlements, for
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
nearest post office to Beadle's settlement; the next in order was the " Radnor settlement," below Middletown, and lastly " Kirby's " or " Welsh's settlement," in Grand Prairie Township, on the Indian trail from Owl Creek to Upper Sandusky, through where Caledonia now is. This Indian trail was all the road we had anywhere through this region, yet all through the winter and early spring emigrants were alighting down for settlement like Colorados on a potato patch. We must have roads from one settlement to the other, and more especially east and south to the old settlements, for
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Upon these two lots of land and a small portion of the twenty-two acres formerly purchased of John Parcel by William T. Farrington, the town of Caledonia was laid out by these two men as proprietors, it having been surveyed and platted by Samuel Holmes, April 11, 1834, who was then Surveyor of Marion County; but it was not acknowledged by them until December 30, 1834.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Upon these two lots of land and a small portion of the twenty-two acres formerly purchased of John Parcel by William T. Farrington, the town of Caledonia was laid out by these two men as proprietors, it having been surveyed and platted by Samuel Holmes, April 11, 1834, who was then Surveyor of Marion County; but it was not acknowledged by them until December 30, 1834.
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.
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.
1901Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Caledonia’s post office has been open since 1835. Another post office, Vanbuskirks, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Caledonia post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Three places: the Memorial United Methodist Church (listed 1979), the Temple and Masonic Block Buildings (2021) and the Caledonia Public Square and North Water Street Historic District (2023).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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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