Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns · #75 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 49 buildings. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1850.
The Greenfield post office opened in 1813, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Greenfield is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #75 of 993 in Ohio. 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 Greenfield’s 129 sits above most of its state (94% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 51 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% 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 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.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1885Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Greenfield. 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 Greenfield.
From Wikipedia’s history of Greenfield.
Greenfield was named for its rural appearance, and was founded by General Duncan McArthur in 1799.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Greenfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Greenfield was incorporated in 1841, and the first mayor elected was Hugh Smart, one of the most prominent men of the county. He came to Greenfield in 1824 from his native county of Washington, Pa., and at once opened a store, with William Hibben as a partner, and he continued in commercial life until 1860. In 1827 Charles Bell, a native of Virginia, began another store, and the two, Bell and Smart, were for a long time the chief men of northeastern Highland, in commercial enterprise. For many years they traveled on horse-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Hop Run church, above mentioned, included the Presbyterian society, the first religious organization in Greenfield, and the meeting house, built in 1809, was on Hop run, a mile southeast of town, in Ross county. After 1835 the meeting house was at Greenfield.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
erected in 1874, previous to this they worshipped in the school houses in Smith's district about three miles northwest of Greenfield.
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.
Born hereWenona Marlin is born here
Born hereJohn E. Hull is born here
In the archiveRattle-Snake Falls Near
Born hereJames Bush is born here
In the archiveFrederick D. Patterson of
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveCity Hall3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1920s. 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 Greenfield’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 1,011 and 5,422 people in every census since 1850.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Greenfield’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
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 Greenfield post office opened in 1813, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Greenfield is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #75 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.
Three places: the Samuel Smith House And Tannery (listed 1978), the Travellers' Rest Inn (1979) and the Greenfield Commercial Historic District (2021).
28% of Greenfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1954.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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