Founding year: the first Clyde post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Clyde’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clyde is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #549 of 993 in Ohio. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clyde’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 Clyde’s 1.6 sits near the middle of its state (51% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Clyde’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In the 1700s, the area of Ohio, including present-day Clyde, was inhabited by the Wyandot tribe. The distinction of first settler of Clyde goes to Jesse Benton. Claims that the first settler was Samuel Pogue are not entirely wrong as sometime during the war of 1812, Pogue drove a stake near the spring in the west part of Clyde with the intention of settling there after the war concluded. When Pogue returned in 1820 to take formal possession of the land, he found Jesse Benton had already built a cabin on the land. Shortly after Pogues arrival, Benton ceded his claim of the land to Pogue for a barrel of whiskey. Pogue lived in the Benton cabin until his death in 1828.
Passages that mention Clyde, cut from the printed page as they were published.
twentieth century history of sandusky county, ohio1909 · page 464Read the page →
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Township, died in 1884 at his home in Clyde. - Judge Richards spent his early life on his father’s farm and attended school at Clyde, graduating from the Clyde High School in 1875. He immediately started for California and remained in the far West until the fall of 1876, when he entered upon the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Sandusky County, Ohio1882 · page 393Read the page →
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When the village of Clyde was incorporated, in May, 1866, Mr. Lemmon was chosen its first mayor, and was re-elected in April, 1867. He has never held any other civil office.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Sandusky County, Ohio1882 · page 393Read the page →
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When the village of Clyde was incorporated, in May, 1866, Mr. Lemmon was chosen its first mayor, and was re-elected in April, 1867. He has never held any other civil office.
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twentieth century history of sandusky county, ohio1909 · page 882Read the page →
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farming operations on the old Slessman homestead for nine years. He then purchased a farm in Sandusky County, a mile south of the village of Clyde, where he operated a meat market for eight years. Then selling his other interests, he went into the stock and grain business at Clyde, which he still conducts.
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.
Timeline
Clyde, 1828 to 1911
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Clyde post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Clyde rank for history?
Clyde is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #549 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 Clyde?
One place: the Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson House (listed 1974).
How old are the homes in Clyde?
24% of Clyde’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.1 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1971.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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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