Delaware dates to 1808, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns · #141 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
24 places in town are on the National Register, among them four historic districts with 601 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1885 on and the census since 1810.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1850.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Delaware’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Delaware is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #141 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 Delaware’s 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 Delaware’s 140 sits above most of its state (95% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 625 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% 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 (±2.5 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1808.
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 Delaware’s 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
Delaware’s post office has been open since 1911. Another post office, Stratford, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Stratford
1850–1900
Delaware
1911–today
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Adalee ParkApplegate BendBelle Avenue Trailer CourtBraddington CommonsBraumiller WoodsCarson FarmsCentral Mobile Home ParkCheshire CrossingDelaware MeadowsEstates At BraumillerGlenrossHayes ColonyKensington PlaceLantern ChaseLexington GlenMeadows At Carson FarmsMillbrookNottinghamOakdalePluggys TownShelbourne ForestStratford WoodsSundale Mobile Home ParkSunnyview Farms
Gone or out of use
Stratford Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Delaware
Oak GroveWesoller
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
While the city and county of Delaware are named for the Lenape or Delaware people, the city of Delaware itself was founded on a Mingo village called Pluggy's Town. The first recorded settler was Joseph Barber in 1807. Shortly afterward, other men started settling in the area (according to the Delaware Historical Society); namely: Moses Byxbe, William Little, Solomon Smith, Elder Jacob Drake, Thomas Butler, and Ira Carpenter. In 1808, Moses Byxbe built the first framed house on William Street. Born in Delaware County in 1808, Charles Sweetser went on to become a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1849 to 1853. On March 11, 1808, a plan of the city was filed, marking the official founding of the town. Byxbe and the others planned the city to be originally on the east bank of the river, but it was switched to the west bank only a few days after the first plan was fil…
Passages that mention Delaware, cut from the printed page as they were published.
20th century history of Delaware County, Ohio1908 · page 129Read the page →
Read the text
ange Township, and runs a little west of north in almost a straight line, about midway between the Hocking Valley and Pennsylvania Railroads, through Liberty and Delaware Townships to the city of Delaware ; thence it runs in a northwesterly direction, paralleling the tracks of the Hocking Valley Railroad, through Delaware, Troy and Radnor Town-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
20th century history of Delaware County, Ohio1908 · page 80Read the page →
Read the text
purpose special commissioners were appointed by the General Assembly. Only a short time previous to the organization of the county the town of Delaware had been laid out by Moses Byxbe and Henry Baldwin, a resident of Pittsburg. By the act which created the county, Delaware was made the temporary seat of justice, pending the choice of a permanent
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Fifity years of history of the ohio wesleyan university delaware ohio.1895 · page 19Read the page →
Read the text
Delaware in 1844 was a little village of twelve hundred inhabitants, away from the lines of travel, of commerce, of intercourse. There were no railroads in the State, and but few good pikes. In bad weather it took the tri-weekly stage a whole day to plough its way hither from Columbus. There were no paved walks or graveled roadways in the town; and in the Winter the Faculty and students extemporized walks of tan-bark, or else literally waded through the mud
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
Delaware, 1808 to 2002
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Delaware. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1924Delaware 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 Delaware.
Every building
Delaware, building by building, 1885–1911
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.
In 1808, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Delaware’s post office opened in 1850, and the census of 1810 counted 200 people here.
How does Delaware rank for history?
Delaware is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #141 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 Delaware?
24 listings: 20 buildings and 4 historic districts with 601 contributing buildings. 625 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Delaware?
16% of Delaware’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1995.
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 Wikidata (6), the National Register of Historic Places (24), Wikipedia, 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.
