Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1837.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Cedarville Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cedarville Township is more historic than 83% of U.S. towns, #255 of 993 in Ohio. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cedarville Township’s 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 Cedarville Township’s 6.7 sits above most of its state (69% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1799.
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 (±5.8 points).
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Cedarville Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost a third of its people between 1890 and 1930, then grew 4-fold.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cedarville Township’s Wikipedia page.
On the map
Cedarville Township on the map, 1917 to 1987
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cedarville Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1917Xenia sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cedarville Township.
Cedarville was settled by Irish and Scottish immigrants in 1799. Cedarville was originally known as Milford, and under the latter name was platted in 1816. This was because of postal confusion with the city of Milford, Ohio. A post office called Massies Creek was established in 1837, and the name was changed to Cedarville in 1843. The present name is for cedar trees near the original town site.
For many years beginning in the 1880s, public life in Cedarville centered around the downtown Cedarville Opera House; it survives to the present day, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1799, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Cedarville Township’s post office opened in 1837, and the census of 1860 counted 688 people here.
How does Cedarville Township rank for history?
Cedarville Township is more historic than 83% of U.S. towns, #255 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 Cedarville Township?
4 listings: 1 building and 1 site.
How old are the homes in Cedarville Township?
20% of Cedarville Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
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