Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 243 buildings between them. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1880.
Gates Mills dates its founding to 1826 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gates Mills is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age 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 Gates Mills’ 1,115 sits above most of its state (100% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 246 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gates Mills’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Gates Mills. 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 Gates Mills.
From Wikipedia’s history of Gates Mills.
Gates Mills was originally part of Mayfield Township. The village was named for Halsey Gates, the proprietor of a local watermill.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Ohio (OH) - Cuyahoga County - Gates Mills - ED 18…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveArt work of Cleveland (1911)2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1910s. 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 Gates Mills’ page.
Retake this view · +15Between 99 and 2,508 people in every census since 1880.
11 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Gates Mills’ Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1826, according to Wikidata. Gates Mills’ post office opened in 1834, and the census of 1880 counted 99 people here.
Gates Mills is more historic than 96% 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.
5 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Gates Mills Methodist Episcopal Church (listed 1975, the first), and 3 historic districts, the Gates Mills Village Historic District, the E. J. Kulas Estate Historic District and the Gates Mills Historic District, with 243 contributing buildings. 246 historic buildings in all.
28% of Gates Mills’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.6 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1960.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, 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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