Cuyahoga Falls dates to 1812, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns · #131 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
12 places in town are on the National Register, among them four historic districts with 293 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1860.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1829.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Cuyahoga Falls’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cuyahoga Falls is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #131 of 993 in Ohio. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cuyahoga Falls’ 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 Cuyahoga Falls’ 59.3 sits above most of its state (90% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 302 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share (±1.9 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1812.
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 →
What stands out about Cuyahoga Falls’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Cuyahoga Falls’s post office has been open since 1829. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Cuyahoga Falls
1829–today
Niles
1836–1841
Vester
1869–1899
Ira
1883–1953
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BotzumEast Steels CornersIndian Springs Mobile Home ParkIraIron BridgeNorthampton CenterOak Leaf Mobile Home ParkWest Steels Corners
Gone or out of use
Camp ChristopherlocaleFallsview Psychiatric HospitalhospitalIra Post Officepost officePancake Lockdam
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Cuyahoga Falls
Chestnut Hill MemorialHarringtonNorthampton CenterNorthlawn Memorial GardensOakwood
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every building
Cuyahoga Falls, building by building, 1884–1927
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.
Cuyahoga Falls was formed in 1812 near the junction of what was then Northampton, Stow, Tallmadge, and Portage townships. The focus was the series of Cuyahoga River waterfalls that provided power for manufacturing.
In 1812, Kelsey and Wilcox built a dam on the Cuyahoga River at a place where a railroad bridge crossed it in 1876. They then built a flour mill, an oil mill, and a saw mill. This led to the construction of a number of houses. This area was known as the old village. Development moved downstream, though, when the power was discovered to be better there. The old village was eventually destroyed in 1826, when a dam built by William Wetmore flooded the dam at the old village and its mills were torn down.
Passages that mention Cuyahoga Falls, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio1881 · page 469Read the page →
Read the text
Commissioners entered upon their records the following order : The matter of the incorporation of the township of Cuyahoga Falls under and by the name of the " Incorporated Village of Cuyahoga Falls," came up for hearing to-day, as adjourned from the March session ; and, on consideration thereof, we, the Commissioners of said county, do find and deter-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Summit County, Ohio1881 · page 469Read the page →
Read the text
merged into the newly created township of the same name. So. on April 30. 1853, “on motion.” said the Town Council, “we do commit all interests of the town of Cuyahoga Falls to the Trustees of Cuyahoga Falls Township, and that we do now adjourn without day.’ So the town of Cuyahoga Falls ceased its corporate ' existence.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio1881 · page 470Read the page →
Read the text
is co-extensive with the other ; and the limits just given as those of the " township of Cu3'ahoga Falls " are the limits also of the " incorporated village of Cuyahoga Falls." At the first election held in the Township of Cuyahoga Falls, on the 7th of April, 1851, the following persons were chosen officers for the _year following : Trustees, Horace A. Miller,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Centennial history of Summit County, Ohio1908 · page 103Read the page →
Read the text
The village of Cuyahoga Falls was founded in 1825 by Elkanah Richardson. Among the earliest settlers were Joshua Stow and William Wetmore. In 1815 a saw-mill was in operation near Gaylord's Grove, operated by power derived from a dam across the river at that point. The name Cuyahoga Falls was adopted in accordance with a sug-
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
Cuyahoga Falls, 1812 to 2007
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cuyahoga Falls. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1906Kent 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 Cuyahoga Falls.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewBotzum, 1875
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Cuyahoga Falls’ page.
In 1812, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Cuyahoga Falls’ post office opened in 1829, and the census of 1860 counted 1,516 people here.
How does Cuyahoga Falls rank for history?
Cuyahoga Falls is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #131 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 Cuyahoga Falls?
12 listings: 5 buildings, 4 historic districts with 293 contributing buildings, and 3 structures. 302 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Cuyahoga Falls?
19% of Cuyahoga Falls’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.9 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1959.
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), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (12), 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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