Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns · #74 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
15 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Adena (Thomas Worthington House), a National Historic Landmark, and three historic districts with 66 buildings between them. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1820.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Chillicothe is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #74 of 993 in Ohio. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Chillicothe’s 37.4 sits above most of its state (86% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 82 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.
★ Landmark
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
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.
1884Sheet 1 of 11Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Chillicothe.
The region around Chillicothe was the center of the ancient Hopewell tradition, which flourished from 200 BC until 500 AD. This Amerindian culture had trade routes extending to the Rocky Mountains. They built earthen mounds for ceremonial and burial purposes throughout the Scioto and Ohio River valleys.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Chillicothe, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Mr. McNemar who was appointed Commissioner to the General Assembly was "instructed to apply for an act permitting the Presbyteries of Transylvania, Western Lexington, and Washington to constitute a Synod." Chillicothe was chosen as the place for the next stated meeting and the first Tuesday of October as the time; but, as the minutes of the meeting, Oct. 24, 1799, in the Baptist meeting house, at Washington, Kentucky, tell us,— "From an unusual train of events, Presbytery was prevented from attending at Chillicothe, ac-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The following petition was presented "To the Presbytery of Chillicothe, to meet in Chillicothe, April, 1832. The undersigned, members of the First Presbyterian church and congregation of Chillicothe, would respectfully represent that it is their opinion and belief that their own spiritual welfare, and the glory of the head of the church, would be best promoted by their existence as a separate church. They would therefore pray you, to set them off and form them into a separate church and congregation, which shall be known
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
was licensed, Wednesday, April 4, 1849. In Presbytery at Chillicothe, May 8th and 9th, 1849, the Rev. Irwin Carson was re ceived from the Presbytery of Washington, and accepted a call from the First Church of Chillicothe, and was installed Wednesday, May 9th, 1849; Wm. Dickey presided and proposed the constitutional questions, Wm. Burton preached, Samuel Steel gaye the charge to the pastor, and Wm. C. Knifnn to the people. Charles Danforth returned his certificate of dismission, and was granted
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The following petition was presented "To the Presbytery of Chillicothe, to meet in Chillicothe, April, 1832. The undersigned, members of the First Presbyterian church and congregation of Chillicothe, would respectfully represent that it is their opinion and belief that their own spiritual welfare, and the glory of the head of the church, would be best promoted by their existence as a separate church. They would therefore pray you, to set them off and form them into a separate church and congregation, which shall be known
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.
Born hereTecumseh is born here
BuiltWalke, Anthony, and Susan Cardinal, House is built
Born hereLucy Webb Hayes is born here
Born hereEdward Cook is born here
In the archiveMarfield Locks Chillicothe, Ohio
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereNancy Wilson is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Chillicothe. 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 Chillicothe.
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 Chillicothe’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 2,426 and 24,957 people in every census since 1820.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Chillicothe’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Chillicothe’s post office has been open since 1799.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Chillicothe is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #74 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.
15 listings: 11 buildings, among them the Adena (Thomas Worthington House) (a National Historic Landmark since 2003), 3 historic districts, the Grandview Cemetery, the Chillicothe's Old Residential District and the Chillicothe Business District, with 66 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 82 historic buildings in all.
25% of Chillicothe’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.7 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1957.
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 (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (15), 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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