Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 92% of U.S. towns · #126 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
32 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 12 buildings. Below: maps from 1898 on and the census since 1870.
The Madison post office opened in 1821, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 92% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Madison is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #126 of 993 in Ohio. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Madison’s 152 sits above most of its state (95% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 52 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% 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 country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Madison’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Madison. 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 Madison.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Madison yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Madison is a village in Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,435 at the 2020 census. Madison was incorporated as a village in 1867.
Its first post office opened in 1821. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,184 to 3,435 (+8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Madison, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Florence, the other town in Paint township, is situated on the Pennsylvania railroad and is the only station on that road west of London in Madison county. It was never platted and at present consists of only a few houses, an elevator, a general store and the Pennsylvania railroad station and freight depot.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
On December 1, 1869, the Pittsburg, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad Company leased of the Little Miami Railroad Company its railroad and its right to the Columbus & Xenia and other roads. At the time this railroad was built, the citizens of Madison county voted twenty thousand dollars towards its construction. When this latter railroad company came into possession of the stocks of the Little Miami Railroad Company it subsequently proposed to take from the county fourteen thousand dollars of said stock, leaving the county with but six thousand dollars of the agreed stock. The road passes through Madison county from Columbus, in a southwest direction, and runs
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
tion with his profession. In 1811, he was appointed Director by the Court of Common Pleas to lay off the town of London, on the site selected by the Commissioners previously authorized b}T the Legislature to locate the county seat of Madison County. The wide, regular and handsome streets which are the pride of this city to-day arc the result of the wisdom and foresight of Patrick McLene. lie did more surveying in Madison County than any man of his time; from 1810 to 1831, he occupied the office of County Surveyor, and in 1811 established the boundaries of Madison County, and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
"January 3, 1811, ordered that there be allowed to Philip Lewis the sum of $20 for part of his services in laying off the town of Madison, in the county of Madison." January 8, 1811. the Board of Commissioners ordered $150 to be appropriated for the purpose of erecting a jail in the town of Madison, and that the same be advertised, the sale to be on the 14th of January next. On the latter date the Commissioners met, and after being informed that there
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.
BuiltAddison Kimball House is built
Born hereDavid R. Paige is born here
Born hereOliver Ernesto Branch is born here
Born hereFrederick Burr Opper is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1898Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Grew from 757 people in 1870 to 3,435 in 2020, 4 times over.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Madison’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Madison’s post office has been open since 1821.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Madison post office opened in 1821, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Madison is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #126 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.
32 listings: 31 buildings, among them the Lemuel II Kimball House (listed 1974, the first), and 1 historic district, the Town Center District, with 12 contributing buildings. 52 historic buildings in all.
21% of Madison’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1976.
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), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (32), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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