Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 25% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Erie Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: 6 old photos and papers and maps from 1900 on.
The Erie Township post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Ottawa (1839) and Erie (1873), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 25% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Erie Township is more historic than 25% 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 Erie 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: 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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Erie 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 Erie Township.
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).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Erie Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Erie Township is one of the twelve townships of Ottawa County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 1,147 people in the township.
Its first post office opened in 1873. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,221 to 1,147 (-6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveNeedle's eye, Gibraltar, Put-in-Bay, Ohio
In the archiveCleveland, Ohio, entrance to harbor
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No 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 Erie Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Erie 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.
The Erie Township post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Erie Township is more historic than 25% 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.
8% of Erie Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 (6), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1880
1900
1900
1906
