Harrison dates to 1810, and 3 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 52% of U.S. towns · #636 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of Harrison was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Its Register listings are the George Bennett House, the Jehu John House and the Hugh Campbell House. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1830.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1817.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Harrison’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Harrison is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #636 of 993 in Ohio. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Harrison’s overall grade.
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 Harrison’s 3.8 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1810.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 →
What stands out about Harrison’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Harrison was laid out in 1810, named in honor of William Henry Harrison, a decorated general and state legislator and afterward the ninth president of the United States. It was incorporated in 1850 and became a city in 1981.
Harrison Township was established in 1853, formerly part of Crosby and Whitewater Township. Among the historic sites in the city's vicinity is the Eighteen Mile House, which was built during the earliest years of the nineteenth century.
Harrison was the home of Ohio's fifth governor Othneil Looker. It was one of the few stops in Ohio on the Whitewater Canal, built between 1836 and 1847, which spanned a distance of 76 miles (122 km).
Passages that mention Harrison, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Historical collections of Harrison County, in the state of Ohio, with lists of the first land-owners, early marriages (to 1841), will records (to 1861), burial records of the early settlements, and numerous genealogies1900 · page 44Read the page →
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memoration of the admission of the State into the Union; and the year 190-i will witness the hundreth anniversary of the laying out of the town of Cadiz. The Centennial of the settlement of Harrison county would nominally be about 1900, — 1800 being the year !n which the land office was opened at Steubenville for the sale of lands in the territory now included in Harrison. The records of that office dur'ng the five years followiug that date show, among others, entries of land titles in what is now Harrison county by the following named settlers:
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Historical collections of Harrison County, in the state of Ohio, with lists of the first land-owners, early marriages (to 1841), will records (to 1861), burial records of the early settlements, and numerous genealogies1900 · page 101Read the page →
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Harrison county was erected from parts of JeflFerson and Tuscarawas. As at first constituted, tlie county included the southern portion of Carroll county; while the western half of Franklin and nearly all of Monroe townships were retained by Tuscarawas county. Carroll county was erected in 1833, from parts of Jefferson, Harrison, Columbiana, Stark, and Tuscarawas, which left the northern boundary of Harrison as it is to-day. The original townships of Jefferson county, which covered nearly all of the present territory of Harrison, were Short Creek and Archer.
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History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio1921 · page 1013Read the page →
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Leonard R. Copeland was -born in Franklin Township. Harrison County, Ohio, on the 10th of October, 1850, is a representative of a family that was founded in this state in the year 1805 and the name of which has been concerned with civic and industrial affairs ip Harrison County for fully ninety years. In his vocation Digitized by boogie
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History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio1921 · page 635Read the page →
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The youngest son, Robert, founded the Lyons family in Harrison County. As a boy of fifteen years he capie to Cadiz, and in partnership with Daniel Kilgore he operated a general store. He is listed among the pioneer merchants of Harrison County.
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.
In 1810, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Harrison’s post office opened in 1817, and the census of 1830 counted 173 people here.
How does Harrison rank for history?
Harrison is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #636 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.
What is on the National Register in Harrison?
Three places: the George Bennett House (listed 1975), the Jehu John House (1975) and the Hugh Campbell House (1976).
How old are the homes in Harrison?
7% of Harrison’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1992.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (2), 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.
Date?
Date?
2019
