Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 45% of U.S. towns · #710 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of Lithopolis was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2005. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1925 on, and the census since 1870.
The Lithopolis post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 45% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lithopolis is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #710 of 993 in Ohio. Its age 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 Lithopolis’ 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 Lithopolis’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lithopolis. 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 Lithopolis.
From Wikipedia’s history of Lithopolis.
Lithopolis was originally called Centerville, and under the latter name was laid out in 1815. The city presently is named for valuable deposits of stone near the original town site, the name Lithopolis translating to "stone city" in Greek. A post office called Lithopolis has been in operation since 1827.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1920s. 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 Lithopolis’ page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 394 people in 1870 to 2,134 in 2020, 5 times over.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lithopolis’ Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Lithopolis post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Lithopolis is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #710 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.
8% of Lithopolis’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 2005.
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 (6), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1908
2015
2015
2004