Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Custar

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Custar

Custar’s post office opened in 1866, and 66% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1909 on and the census since 1880.

1866first post office
0on the National Register
66%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Nyttend · Public domain
Quick answers

How Custar began

When was Custar founded?

1866

The Custar post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 248 in 18802020 census: 178160 years
Founding year: the first Custar post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Custar’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Custar are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Custar’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 345 in 1910; 178 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19093 editions of the USGS map, 1909 to 1971. Watch Custar change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Custar’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Custar’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Custar came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Custar.

Read it all →

Custar was originally called Lewisburg, and under the latter name was platted in 1865, and named for Frederick Lewis, proprietor. A post office called Custar has been in operation since 1866. The village was incorporated in 1881.

In late 2019, three grain silos in Custar suffered from a fire and explosion.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

Custar, census by census

010020030018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 345

Peaked at 345 in 1910; 178 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Custar’s Wikipedia page.

Timeline

Custar, 1866 to 1910

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1866Post officeThe Custar post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1909On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 345
By decade

Custar, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Defiance east of Superior2015Defiance east of SuperiorCustar grain elevator2015Custar grain elevatorCustar St. Louis Church2015Custar St. Louis ChurchMap of Wood County Ohio Highlighting Custar Village2015Map of Wood County Ohio Highlighting Custar VillageMapOHMap-doton-Custar2004OHMap-doton-Custar
On the map

Custar on the map, 1909 to 1971

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Custar. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Custar on the 1909 USGS mapCustar on the 1960 USGS mapCustar on the 1971 USGS map1909Mc Clure sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Custar.

Questions about Custar’s history

What year was Custar founded?

The Custar post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (5), Wikipedia, 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.