Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns · #889 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of Congress Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1915 on, and old-book passages.
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Congress Township is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #889 of 993 in Ohio. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Congress Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how Congress Township’s history is told.
Two other post offices 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).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Congress Township. 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 Congress Township.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Congress Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Congress Township is one of the sixteen townships of Morrow County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 2,939 people in the township.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,701 to 2,939 (+9%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Congress Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Congress Township is more modern in its settlement by the whites than some other portions of Morrow County. At what precise date the first permanent settlement was made within its limits by white men cannot be determined now with positive certainty. It is probable, however, that no settlements were made previous to 1820-21, while other parts were settled a number of years earlier.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Congress Township is more modern in its settlement by the whites than some other portions of Morrow County. At what precise date the first permanent settlement was made within its limits by white men cannot be determined now with positive certainty. It is probable, however, that no settlements were made previous to 1820-21, while other parts were settled a number of years earlier.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Some of the early settlers in the eastern part of the township were Baptists. A church was formed in Congress Township, called Brin Zion, about 1 824. A frame meeting-house was built in 1833, and, in 1857, a new church edifice was erected on the old site, where is a cemetery. Revs.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Some of the early settlers in the eastern part of the township were Baptists. A church was formed in Congress Township, called Brin Zion, about 1 824. A frame meeting-house was built in 1833, and, in 1857, a new church edifice was erected on the old site, where is a cemetery. Revs.
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.
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 Congress Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Congress Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Congress Township is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #889 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.
8% of Congress Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1996.
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 (3), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), 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?
2015
2015