Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1913 on, and the census since 1850.
Huntsville dates its founding to 1846 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1850.
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 Huntsville’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Huntsville. 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 Huntsville.
From Wikipedia’s history of Huntsville.
Huntsville was platted in 1846, and named after Aaron L. Hunt, a government surveyor. The village was incorporated in December 1865.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Huntsville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
manufactories. The first of these was built by Hugh Bickham, early in the settlement; it was a hewed log structure and_ stood just south of Huntsville. The second was built by Edward Harper in 1845; this was quite a respectable building; it stood near the Instine grist-mill, but did not pay, and after some five years was closed. The third and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
About one mile east of the present thriving village of Huntsville, on the Bellefontaine perhaps, one dozen dwellings, the. remains of the once promising village of Cherokee. The site of this town was formerly owned by Robert Edminston, Dr. Samuel A. Morton and Alexander Thompson, who, on March 19, 1852, by the aid of James W. Marmon,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The village of Huntsville was incorporated in December, 1865, and in April follovs^ing the first election of officers was held. Sidney B.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
a few years, when the society having attained sufficient strength, a small frame meeting-house' was built at Cherokee. This the society occupied until the rise of Huntsville, when it was sold, and a more commodious structure erected in that village. This was built in 1866. The membership of this society is now numerous and its future encourag-
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 hereGeorge Russell Davis is born here
In the archiveAtlas of Logan County, Ohio
In the archiveLovers Lane, Indian Lake
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1900s. 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 Huntsville’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 214 and 511 people in every census since 1850.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Huntsville’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Huntsville’s post office has been open since 1849. Another post office, Cherokee, 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).
In 1846, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Huntsville’s post office opened in 1832, and the census of 1850 counted 214 people here.
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 (12), 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 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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