The Holland post office opened in 1863, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Drakes (1852) and Hardy (1853), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 95 in 18802020 census: 1,820163 years
How historic is Holland?
C+
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Holland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Holland’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Holland is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Holland’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 Holland’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Holland’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first name of the village was Drakes, which possibly came from the name of a family or was in reference to the large number of male ducks that did and still fly over the area. Later the crossroads called itself Hardy, which is probably taken from Samuel Hardy, who was one of the signers of a document (along with Thomas Jefferson, Arthur Lee and James Monroe) that ceded the northwest territories of Virginia to the government of the United States. He was a member of the Continental Congress in 1783-1785 and had been a lieutenant governor of Virginia.
Passages that mention Holland, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of the city of Toledo and Lucas County, Ohio ..1888 · page 879Read the page →
Read the text
The Village of Holland is near the center of the Township. The plat on the North side of the Main Street was maile by Robert Clark, March 14, 18(j:!. Hall's first a'nd second Sub- Divisions constitute that jiarl of tlie plat which lies South of the Railroad. The \'ill;ige in 1887 contained three stores — those of Harrison Wood, Milan I'erkiiis, ami T. W. Sage iV Co. —
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.
Timeline
Holland, 1852 to 1900
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Holland post office opened in 1863, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Holland rank for history?
Holland is more historic than 36% 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.
How old are the homes in Holland?
17% of Holland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (5), 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.
2016
2016
2015
2014
2004
