Founding year: the first Crooksville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Crooksville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Crooksville is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Crooksville’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 Crooksville’s 4.2 sits near the middle of its state (62% 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 A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.5 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 Crooksville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Crooksville was founded around 1874 by the U.S. Postal Service at the request of founders Jacob Reed and his partner Joseph Crooks, Crooksville has continued to thrive for the past 126 years. Located off State Rt. 93 in Perry County, the Village has worked diligently over the years to keep the environment friendly for families and business. Sometime earlier between 1820 and 1825, Jacob Reed, a young and prosperous man from the East struck out looking for a company in which to invest his money and double his fortune. On the way he met his bride, Lydia, and eventually the two of them found the heavily timbered land that is now Crooksville.
Crooksville, the "clay city" of the county, was organized in 1874. In recent years it has been of rapid growth, and is now one of the most important towns in the county.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
1883 history perry county, ohio1883 · page 194Read the page →
Read the text
Crooksville, situated two miles east of McLuney, on the C. & M. V.R.R., was established about 1874, and soon became a considerable point for coal mining. It has also several potteries, and a large quantity of potters’ ware is manufactured there, most of which is sold in distant markets. The town has a railway station, post office, store, etc.
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
Crooksville, 1869 to 1938
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Crooksville post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Crooksville rank for history?
Crooksville is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns. 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 Crooksville?
One place: the West School (listed 1980).
How old are the homes in Crooksville?
51% of Crooksville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.5 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 (4), Wikidata (1), 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 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.
2017
2015
2013
2004
