Fairborn’s post office opened in 1950, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns · #817 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of Fairborn was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 44 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1950.
The Fairborn post office opened in 1950, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Fairfield (1813) and Osborn (1855), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 7,847 in 19502020 census: 34,51076 years
How historic is Fairborn?
C
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Fairborn post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Fairborn’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fairborn is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #817 of 993 in Ohio. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fairborn’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 Fairborn’s 13.6 sits above most of its state (78% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 47 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B. The pre-1940 share (±1.6 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Fairborn’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Fairborn’s post office has been open since 1950. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Fairfield
1813–1950
Osborn
1855–1950
Fairborn
1950–today
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Buckeye Mobile Home ParkFairborn Mobile Home ParkFive PointsPark Hills CrossingPleasant ViewRed Oak Mobile Home ParkSouth Point Village Mobile Home ParkThomas Trailer ParkWomacks Mobile Home ParkWrightview
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Fairborn
FairfieldMitman
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Fairborn’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fairborn’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Fairborn was formed from the union in 1950 of the two villages of Fairfield and Osborn after a charter was signed on January 1st. Fairfield was founded by European Americans in 1816 and Osborn in 1850.The city was Incorporated on August 1st, 1950.
The area of the village of Fairfield was settled by European Americans before Ohio was admitted as a state. The first log cabin was built in 1799 by George Greiner. Pioneers migrating northward and westward from Kentucky and Virginia considered this area near the Mad River desirable for settlement. They were encroaching on territory of the native Shawnee, who sometimes raided the village. Settlers retaliated. No massacres were recorded but both sides engaged in taking prisoners.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Fairborn post office opened in 1950, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Fairborn rank for history?
Fairborn is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #817 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 Fairborn?
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Mercer Log House (listed 1981, the first), and 1 historic district, the Albert Krumm Apartments Historic District, with 44 contributing buildings. 47 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Fairborn?
6% of Fairborn’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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) 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.
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