Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns · #380 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Freedom Congregational Church. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1906 on, and old-book passages.
The Freedom Township post office opened in 1826, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Freedom (1826) and Freedom Station (1864), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Freedom Township is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #380 of 993 in Ohio. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age 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 Freedom Township’s 3.7 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Freedom Township’s history is told.
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).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Freedom 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 Freedom Township.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Freedom Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Freedom Township is one of the eighteen townships of Portage County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 2,649 people in the township.
Its first post office opened in 1826. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,843 to 2,649 (-7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Freedom Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Freedom Township, this county, the former in 1832, bought 400 acres of land and erected many of the buildings in Freedom Center. SimeOTi Birge, who was a physician, moved away in 1838, while Lasell remained until 1846 or 1847. The father of our subject was in the war of 1812, and participated in the battle of Plattsburg.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Freedom Township, this county, ihe former in 1832, bought 400 aerea of land and erected many of the bnildings in Freedom Center. SimeoQ Birge, who was a physician, moved away in 1838, while Laseli remained until 1840 or 1847. The father of our subject was in the war of 1812, and participated in Uie battle of PlattRbnrg.
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.
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 Freedom Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Freedom Township post office opened in 1826, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Freedom Township is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #380 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 Freedom Congregational Church (listed 1975).
16% of Freedom Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.7 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 Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (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.
Date?
2015
2015
2015
2008