Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1976 on, and the census since 1850.
The Clarington post office opened in 1859, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Sunfish (1828), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 915 in 1880; 280 people lived here in 2020.
17 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Clarington’s Wikipedia page.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1899Clarington - Leek Property (COAF)
1899Clarington - Leek Property (COAF)
1899Clarington - Leek Property (COAF)
1899Clarington - Leek Property (COAF)
1899Clarington - Leek Property (COAF)
1899Clarington - Leek Property (COAF)
1899Clarington - Leek Property (COAF)
1899Clarington - Leek Property (COAF)
1899Clarington - Leek Property (COAF)
1899Clarington - Leek Property (COAF)
1899Clarington - Leek Property (COAF)
1899Clarington - Leek Property (COAF)From Wikipedia’s history of Clarington.
Clarington was described in 1833 as having two stores, one tavern, one physician and ten residential houses. According to Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio, "It was laid out in 1822 by David Pierson, who named it after his daughter Clarinda."
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 hereJoseph W. Yost is born hereIn the archiveClarington - Leek Property (COAF)
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Clarington. 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 Clarington.
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 Clarington’s page.
Retake this view · +15Clarington’s post office has been open since 1859. Another post office, Sunfish, 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).
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.
The Clarington post office opened in 1859, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (12), 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) 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.
