Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 87% of U.S. towns · #205 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Goll Homestead. Below: maps from 1913 on and old-book passages.
More historic than 87% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, German Township is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #205 of 993 in Ohio. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 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 German Township’s 6.1 sits above most of its state (67% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 German Township’s history is told.
Another post office, Elmira, 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 German 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 German Township.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of German Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
German Township is one of the twelve townships in Fulton County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 6,576 people in the township.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 6,443 to 6,576 (+2%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention German Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Unlike the history of any other township of Fulton county, that of German Township began with the simultaneous settlement within it of many people— more than forty. Other townships experienced a gradual incoming of settlers, but German Township settlement may almost be described as colonization. And to some extent it has maintained that character throughout its history. In 1834 worthy pioneers, men of strong religious faith, and rigid purpose, and simple habits, came into the territory with their families, as will be narrated later
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Some years ago, in a reminiscent article published in a local newspaper, James Grisier, of Payette, stated that in 1844, in which year he settled in German Township, “there were not a dozen schools in the county.” There were probably more than twelve, for some townships had two or three schools, if not schoolhouses, at that time.
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.
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.
Nobody well known was born in German Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
German Township is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #205 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 Goll Homestead (listed 2005).
26% of German Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1967.
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 (3), 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.
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