Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1898 on and the census since 1880.
The Hanging Rock post office opened in 1830, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 Hanging Rock’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hanging Rock. 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 Hanging Rock.
Peaked at 846 in 1890; 204 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hanging Rock’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Hanging Rock.
Hanging Rock had its start in 1820 when European Americans built a blast furnace at the site. Village development followed as workers came to the furnace. The village takes its name from a nearby cliff. The village reached its peak population in 1890. Industrial changes reduced the need for labor, and people gradually left for work elsewhere.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Hanging Rock, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Peter L. Henry passed the days of his boyhood and youth on the home farm, in Hamilton Township, and in the district schools he acquired his rudimentary education. Thereafter he attended the public schools in the Village of Hanging Rock until he had completed. one year's study in the high school, and in pursuance of higher academic discipline he entered the National Normal University, at Lebanon, where he was a student for two terms and where he fortified himself for the work of the pedagogic profession. From 1886 to 1893 he was a successful and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Peter L. Henry passed the days of his boyhood and youth on the home farm, in Hamilton Township, and in the district schools he acquired his rudimentary education. Thereafter he attended the public schools in the Village of Hanging Rock until he had completed. one year’s study in the high school, and in pursuance of higher academic discipline he entered the National Normal University, at Lebanon, where he was a student for two terms and where he fortified himself for the work of the pedagogic profession. From 1886 to 1893 he was a successful and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
W. Doty, Jr., grew up in Scioto County, attended the common schools, and his first regular employment was with the Ohio Furnace Company. After 114 years with that company in Greene Township, they sent him to Hanging Rock, and he later went into the railroad service, for a short time working in the roundhouse of the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad. Пе then became fireman for the Chesapeake & Ohio,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
W. Doty, Jr., grew up in Scioto County, attended the common schools, and his first regular employment was with the Ohio Furnace Company. After li/o years with that company in Greene Township, they sent him to Hanging Rock, and he later went into the railroad service, for a short time working in the roundhouse of the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad. He then became fireman for the Chesapeake & Ohio,
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.
Hanging Rock had its own post office from 1830 to 1981.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Hanging Rock post office opened in 1830, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikipedia, 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 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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