Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns · #375 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Zenas King Bowstring Bridge. Below: maps from 1909 on.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, McLean Township is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #375 of 993 in Ohio. All 2 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 McLean Township’s 11.9 sits above most of its state (76% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 McLean Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of McLean Township. 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 McLean Township.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of McLean Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
McLean Township is one of the fourteen townships of Shelby County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 3,378 people in the township.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,245 to 3,378 (+4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
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.
Nobody well known was born in McLean Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
McLean Township is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #375 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.
2 listings: 1 structure. 4 historic buildings in all.
14% of McLean Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1985.
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 (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.
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