Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 63% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1914 on, and old-book passages.
More historic than 63% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Delaware Township is more historic than 63% 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 Delaware Township’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: 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.
Three 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).
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1900Department of German and residence of Professor Davie…
1905Observatory, Ohio Wesleyan University
1905Merrick Hall, Ohio Wesleyan University
1905Monnett Hall, Ohio Wesleyan University
1905University Hall, Ohio Wesleyan University
1905Elliott Hall, Ohio Wesleyan University
1905Slocum Library, Ohio Wesleyan University
1905Slocum Library, Ohio Wesleyan University
1905City Hall
1905County Court House
1905Masonic Hall and City Library
1905William Street and M.E. ChurchEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Delaware 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 Delaware Township.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Delaware Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Delaware Township is one of the twelve townships of Defiance County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 2,030 people in the township.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,134 to 2,030 (-5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Delaware Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
County, Ohio, Harrison Township, remaining there until 1857, when he came to and settled in Delaware Township, Defiance County. He settled on Seetion 10, in Delaware Township, where he now lives. Had The timber was quite large and very heavy, and ponds were plenty and nearly covered the surface of the ground. The land is now well drained and makes good farms, and
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.
In the archiveDepartment of German and residence of Professor Davies, Ohio Wesleyan University
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyNo then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Delaware Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Delaware Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Delaware Township is more historic than 63% 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.
37% of Delaware Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±12.1 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1968.
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 the Library of Congress (12), 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.
