1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 9 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1912 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Magnolia post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Magnolia’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Magnolia is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Magnolia’s overall grade.
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 Magnolia’s 84.8 sits above most of its state (92% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 9 historic buildings outnumber those of 75% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.8 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 Magnolia’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1834 Richard Elson and John W. Smith laid out the village of Magnolia in Sandy Township. In 1836, Isaac Miller platted the village of Downingville in Rose Township. Downingville was named after the Downes family, early pioneers that came over from Ireland and England. The towns merged and became Magnolia on February 1, 1846. The village took its name from Magnolia Mills, a local gristmill.
The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District constructed the Magnolia Levee to protect the town from Bolivar Dam.
come associated with the J. C. Carland Construction Company, where he gained considerable knowledge of the line of business to which he has devoted his chief attention since. In 1903 Mr. Roush became assistant cashier of the Magnolia Bank, at Magnolia, Ohio, where he remained for three years, resigning to accept the position of corporation accountant for the Metropolitan Construction Company of Canton. After one year’s service, he was transferred to the Jersey Paving Corporation, a subsidiary of the Metropolitan
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.
Timeline
Magnolia, 1834 to 1972
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Magnolia, census by census
Between 121 and 1,064 people in every census since 1880.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Magnolia’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Magnolia’s history
What year was Magnolia founded?
The Magnolia post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Magnolia rank for history?
Magnolia is more historic than 95% 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.
What is on the National Register in Magnolia?
One place: the Elson-Magnolia Flour Mill (listed 2000).
How old are the homes in Magnolia?
38% of Magnolia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.8 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1948.
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 (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
1912
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