On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Chester Township is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Chester 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 Chester Township’s 47.2 sits above most of its state (88% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 9 listings outnumber those of 75% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±12.1 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Chester Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
9
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
9
each building in a district counts
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
On the map
Chester Township on the map, 1915 to 1961
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Chester Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1915Fredericktown 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 Chester Township.
The story so far
Chester Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Chester Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Chester Township is one of the sixteen townships in Morrow County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census reported a population of 1,851 people in the township, with 191 residing in the village of Chesterville.
Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,872 in 2010, 1,851 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Chester Township in 1880
Passages that mention Chester Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Morrow County and Ohio1880 · page 216Read the page →
Read the text
farms in the county. At an early date, the average farm was very much smaller than now, and a large family was raised on fifty acres. This was especially true of a part of Chester Township, where this fact gave the title of "fifty-acre section" to that part of the township. The county was thus over-populated in the early settlement, and as the Western lands have come into market,
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.
Chester Township is more historic than 94% 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.
How old are the homes in Chester Township?
29% of Chester Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±12.1 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1977.
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), the Library of Congress (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.
Date?
Date?
2015
2015
