Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The Damascus post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 Damascus’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Damascus. 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 Damascus.
From Wikipedia’s history of Damascus.
Damascus was platted in 1808. The community derives its name from the ancient city of Damascus, Syria. Damascus was originally built up chiefly by Quakers.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Damascus, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A very excellent sketch of Damascus, and of the “meeting houses,” which were among the chief features of the town, was published in tile summer of 1904 by the Daily News, a newspaper published in the then new town of Sebring, just across the Mahoning County line, from which the following sketch is extracted : “The village of Damascus lies in the midst
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The 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.
Nobody well known was born in Damascus itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Damascus post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.
