Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 62% of U.S. towns · #511 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of Columbiana was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Its Register listing is the Jones-Bowman House. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1860.
Columbiana dates its founding to 1805 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1860.
More historic than 62% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Columbiana is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #511 of 993 in Ohio. 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 Columbiana’s 1.4 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.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Columbiana’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Columbiana. 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 Columbiana.
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.
1896Sheet 1 of 4Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Columbiana.
Columbiana was laid out by Joshua Dixon and William Heald in 1805. The city takes its name from Columbiana County, which itself is named in honor of 15th-century Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, combining his surname with the mass noun suffix -iana. Columbiana was incorporated as a village in 1837 and elevated to a city in 2000.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Columbiana, cut from the printed page as they were published.
This village is on the northern edge of Columbiana County, and was named after William Lee, of Randolph, N. Y., one of the corporators of the Leetonia Coal and Iron Company, by which company it was laid out in 186b‘— (17. It is situated in a rich farming district, on the line of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad, at the crossing of the Niles and New Lisbon Railroad. The latter road conveys to Leetonia the ore of the Beaver and Mahoning
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 hereJustin De Witt Bowersock is born here
Born hereHarvey Samuel Firestone is born here
Born herePete Allen is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveM. E. Church and High SchoolOne decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Columbiana’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.
Grew from 1,174 people in 1860 to 6,559 in 2020, 5 times over.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Columbiana’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Columbiana’s post office has been open since 1810.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1805, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Columbiana’s post office opened in 1810, and the census of 1860 counted 1,174 people here.
Columbiana is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #511 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.
One place: the Jones-Bowman House (listed 1976).
9% of Columbiana’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 Wikimedia Commons (6), 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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