Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 66% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1906 on, and the census since 1850.
The Kingston post office opened in 1826, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 66% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kingston is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Kingston’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.
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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how Kingston’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kingston. 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 Kingston.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Kingston yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Kingston is a village in Ross County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,262 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1826. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,032 to 1,262 (+22%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Kingston, cut from the printed page as they were published.
He had an ambition to place his home town of Adelphi in touch with the surrounding world by a railroad. He supplied most of the means and the energy toward building a railroad from Kingston to Adelphi. Principally due to his advanced age at the time this enterprise was undertaken, it proved to be unfortunate, and his fine estate was swept away. The railroad was operated for about fourteen years and was then abandoned, and since then Adelphi has been isolated so
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Ross County and is one of the very prosperous farmer citizens of Green Township, living near the historic old Town of Kingston. The founder of the family in this county was his great-grandfather Anthony Rittenour, who was born and reared in Rockingham County, Virginia. He also lived for some years in Frederick County of that state and for one year in Washington County in Southwestern Pennsylvania. In 1798 he migrated into Northwest Territery. A team drew the wagon out of Pennsylvania and across the hills inte the wilderness
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. 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 Kingston’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 336 people in 1850 to 1,262 in 2020, 3 times over.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Kingston’s Wikipedia page.
The Kingston post office opened in 1826, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Kingston is more historic than 66% 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.
26% of Kingston’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.3 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1965.
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 (5), 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.
2015
2007
2006
2004