Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Nyttend · Public domainMore historic than 71% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Chester Township was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Its Register listings are the Mound Cemetery Mound and the Old Meigs County Courthouse And Chester Academy. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1907 on.
Chester Township dates its founding to 1822 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1815.
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Chester Township is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls 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 Chester Township’s 8.0 sits above most of its state (71% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Chester Township’s history is told.
Three 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 Chester 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 Chester Township.
From Wikipedia’s history of Chester Township.
Chester was platted in about 1822 as the original seat of Meigs County. The county seat was removed to Pomeroy in 1841. The Old Meigs County Courthouse still stands in Chester and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A post office has been in operation at Chester since 1823.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereMary Emilie Holmes is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereRon McDole is born hereNo 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 Chester Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1822, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Chester Township’s post office opened in 1815.
Chester Township is more historic than 71% 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.
Two places: the Mound Cemetery Mound (listed 1974) and the Old Meigs County Courthouse And Chester Academy (1975).
10% of Chester Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.0 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1989.
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 the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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