Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1912 on and the census since 1830.
The Danville post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Rosstown (1878) and Buckeye City (1882), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Danville is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns. 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 Danville’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: 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 →
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 Danville’s history is told.
Lost a third of its people between 1830 and 1870, then grew 7-fold.
18 censuses, 1830–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Danville’s Wikipedia page.
Danville’s post office has been open since 1824. 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).
From Wikipedia’s history of Danville.
Modern Danville had its start in 1923 by the merging of two neighboring villages called Buckeye City and Rosstown (Rossville). The original Danville was laid out by George Sapp, Sr. and Robert Waddell in 1813 and was named for Daniel Sapp, a soldier in the War of 1812.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Danville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
LYBARGER, HIRAM, farmer. Union township, post office, Danville. He was born in Clinton township, Knox county, Febraary 3, 1818, moved to Danville in 1826, and lived there a few years, and in 1849 moved to Pike county, Ohio, lived there two years, and in 1852 moved back to Danville. He purchased his father's tannery in 1863, made extensive improvements on the old property, and conducted the business on a larger scale, continuing until 1878, when he left this trade and commenced
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Sarah Workman, was bom near Frostburgh, Alleghany county, Maryland, January 12, 1807. In 1812 his father, with his family, moved to Ohio, and located in Union township, Knox county, near tlie present village of Danville, on a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, and there erected a log cabin for his family. In those days the country was thinly settled, wild Indians were seen occasionally, and a block-house was erected upon the farm on which he settled to protect the early settlers
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.
Born hereWilliam Fletcher Sapp is born here
Born hereLyman R. Critchfield is born here
Born hereRobert M. Nevin is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Danville. 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 Danville.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Danville post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Danville is more historic than 74% 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.
41% of Danville’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 1950.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (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.
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