Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns · #354 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of Medina was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. 13 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 36 buildings between them. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1840.
Medina dates its founding to 1816 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1840.
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Medina is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #354 of 993 in Ohio. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls 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 Medina’s 18.5 sits above most of its state (81% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 48 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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.
Fire 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.
1885Sheet 2 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Medina. 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 Medina.
From Wikipedia’s history of Medina.
Medina was founded on November 30, 1818, as part of the Connecticut Western Reserve. It was originally named Mecca, but an unincorporated community in Ohio already had that name, so the name was changed. Both Mecca and Medina are Arabian cities particularly significant in Islam.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Medina, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The village of Medina was laid out in 1818. The plat is dated November 30, of that year, but was not recorded until January 6, 1820.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Badger took the contract for clearing off the publie square, in 1819, and, also, for the building of the first court house. He is still living in the village of Medina, though, in a few years after he came to the county, he removed into Montville Township, where he lived until he settled in Medina, some years ago. We are indebted to him for many particulars relating to
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveOffice of the A. I. Root Company
In the archiveHigh SchoolBuiltMedina Masonic Temple and Medina Theater is built
In the archiveA.I. Root Company, Medina, Ohio, the home of the honey bees
Born hereBobby Rahal is born here
Born hereRyan Dunn is born here
Born hereMatPat is born here3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1908Office of the A. I. Root CompanyPostcard
1908Office of the A. I. Root CompanyPostcard
1909S. Court St. Medina, OPostcard
1909S. Court St. Medina, OPostcard1911High SchoolPostcard
1911High SchoolPostcard
1916Entrance to Spring Grove CemeteryPostcard
1916Entrance to Spring Grove CemeteryPostcard
1918US 1918 Medino OH 3c Washington Late Use to Racine WI…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 Medina’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 655 and 26,678 people in every census since 1840.
19 censuses, 1840–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Medina’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Medina’s post office has been open since 1819.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1816, according to Wikidata. Medina’s post office opened in 1819, and the census of 1840 counted 655 people here.
Medina is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #354 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.
13 listings: 10 buildings, among them the Medina County Courthouse (listed 1970, the first), and 3 historic districts, the Medina Public Square Historic District, the Spring Grove Cemetery and the Medfair Heights Apartment Historic District, with 36 contributing buildings. 48 historic buildings in all.
8% of Medina’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (13), 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, 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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