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BHistory
History · LaGrange

LaGrange’s post office opened in 1828, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 56% of U.S. towns · #578 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it

Below: maps from 1904 on and the census since 1880.

1828first post office
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Roseohioresident · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How LaGrange began

When was LaGrange founded?

1828

The LaGrange post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 511 in 18802020 census: 2,595198 years

How historic is LaGrange?

B

More historic than 56% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first LaGrange post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives LaGrange’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, LaGrange is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #578 of 993 in Ohio. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of LaGrange’s overall grade.
Founding era1828, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194015.8% of homes (±6.9) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%BNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical OH town 2.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 56%
NewerOlder
Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 42%

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 LaGrange’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 (±6.9 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 LaGrange’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of LaGrange are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1828: 198 years of LaGrange.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start LaGrange’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how LaGrange’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

LaGrange, 1817 to 1918

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1817Born hereOscar F. Moore is born here
  3. 1828Post officeThe LaGrange post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1904On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1918Born hereDorothy Maguire is born here
The story so far

LaGrange, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of LaGrange yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

LaGrange ( lə-GRAYNJ) is a village in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,595 at the 2020 census. The village derives its name from Château de la Grange-Bléneau, the French home of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, an officer in the American Revolutionary War.

Its first post office opened in 1828. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,103 to 2,595 (+23%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about LaGrange, 1876–1879

Passages that mention LaGrange, cut from the printed page as they were published.

lii January, L827, ir was detached from Carlisle and incorporated into a township by the name of LaGrange. The first election for township officers was held in April of that year, at the dwelling house "i Fairchild Hubbard. Eber W. Hubbard afterward one of the associate judges of the Court of
The early history of Lorain County. An address1876 · page 32Read the page →
Read the text

lii January, L827, ir was detached from Carlisle and incorporated into a township by the name of LaGrange. The first election for township officers was held in April of that year, at the dwelling house "i Fairchild Hubbard. Eber W. Hubbard afterward one of the associate judges of the Court of

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
LaGrange, came into the township about 1840. Wm. Billings came in 1836; also L. D. Glynn and F. E. Parsons. Erastus Campbell settled on lot one hundred and eleven, the old Remington farm, in 1857, and though not as old a resident as many others, is deserving of mention, because a representative man…
History of Lorain County Ohio with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pionners1879 · page 369Read the page →
Read the text

LaGrange, came into the township about 1840. Wm. Billings came in 1836; also L. D. Glynn and F. E. Parsons. Erastus Campbell settled on lot one hundred and eleven, the old Remington farm, in 1857, and though not as old a resident as many others, is deserving of mention, because a representative man of the township.

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.

By decade

LaGrange, decade by decade

Today6 recent
LaGrange Ohio traffic circle2016LaGrange Ohio traffic circleLaGrange Ohio United Methodist Church2016LaGrange Ohio United Methodist ChurchLaGrange Municipal Building, Ohio2016LaGrange Municipal Building, OhioMap of Lorain County Ohio Highlighting LaGrange Village2015Map of Lorain County Ohio Highlighting LaGrange Villa…Map2010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map for20102010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map forBookOHMap-doton-Lagrange2004OHMap-doton-Lagrange
On the map

LaGrange on the map, 1904 to 1986

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of LaGrange. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

LaGrange on the 1904 USGS mapLaGrange on the 1986 USGS map1904Wellington sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of LaGrange.

People over time

LaGrange, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,500188019001920194019601980200020202,595

Grew from 511 people in 1880 to 2,595 in 2020, 5 times over.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on LaGrange’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in LaGrange

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Oscar F. MooreAmerican politician · b. 1817
D
Dorothy MaguireAmerican baseball player · b. 1918

Questions about LaGrange’s history

What year was LaGrange founded?

The LaGrange post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does LaGrange rank for history?

LaGrange is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #578 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.

How old are the homes in LaGrange?

16% of LaGrange’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.9 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1991.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (6), 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.