Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns · #452 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1901 on.
The Canaan Township post office opened in 1825, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Canaan (1825) and Golden Corners (1854), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Canaan Township is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns, #452 of 993 in Ohio. 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 Canaan Township’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 Canaan Township’s history is told.
Two other post offices 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).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Canaan Township. 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 Canaan Township.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Canaan Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Canaan Township is one of the sixteen townships of Wayne County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 5,134 people in the township.
Its first post office opened in 1825. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 4,875 to 5,134 (+5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Wayne County - South Canaan - ED 6…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. 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 Canaan Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Canaan Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Canaan Township post office opened in 1825, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Canaan Township is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns, #452 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.
27% of Canaan Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 (3), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2016
2016