Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns · #350 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Reed Covered Bridge. Below: maps from 1916 on and old-book passages.
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Darby Township is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #350 of 993 in Ohio. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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 Darby Township’s 3.9 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Darby Township’s history is told.
Another post office, Chuckery, 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).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Darby Township. 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 Darby Township.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Darby Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Darby Township is one of the fourteen townships of Union County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 2,397 people in the township.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,060 to 2,397 (+16%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Darby Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Unionville, a village of 200 people, is located in the southcentral part of Darby Township, on the south bank of Big Darby. It was laid out February 8, 1847, by William B. Irwin, County Surveyor, for John, Frederick and David Sager. The original plat contained only fifteen lots and two streets — Main and Cross. The public square, twelve poles and twelve feet square, was situated in the northeast corner of the plat. An addition was made to the village February 10, 1852, by Christian, Frederick, John and David Sager. It consisted of thirty-three lots, 16 to 48 inclusive, lying mostly south of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
with him. James was accompanied by his aged mother, Cynthia, and his two sisters, Betsy and Mrs. Eunice Donaldson. The latter was a widow, and her only child, Ewing Donaldson, came with her. Joshua purchased a lot in the newly platted town of North Liberty, in Darby Township, and there erected his cabin. Both families lived here for a short time, biit the town did not improve any and very soon after the Ewings both settled in Jerome Township, near its southwest corner on the south side of Big Darby. Of this early family no descendants are now left in Union County.
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.
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 Darby Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Darby Township is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #350 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.
One place: the Reed Covered Bridge (listed 1975).
24% of Darby Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.5 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1985.
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), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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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