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–Not graded
History · Melrose

Melrose’s post office opened in 1882, and 39% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1890.

1882first post office
0on the National Register
39%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Melrose’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Melrose began

When was Melrose founded?

1882

The Melrose post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Murat (1852) and Royal Oak (1864), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 430 in 18902020 census: 233144 years
Founding year: the first Melrose post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Melrose’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Melrose.On the map since 19093 editions of the USGS map, 1909 to 1973. Watch Melrose change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Melrose’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Melrose’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPC170040 38th Reg OVVI Civil War Vetera…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Melrose’s post office has been open since 1882. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Murat
1852–1864
Royal Oak
1864–1882
Melrose
1882–today
18501940today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the map

Melrose on the map, 1909 to 1973

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Melrose. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Melrose on the 1909 USGS mapMelrose on the 1960 USGS mapMelrose on the 1973 USGS map1909Continental sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Melrose.

The story so far

Melrose, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Melrose yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Melrose is a village in Paulding County, Ohio, United States. The population was 233 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1882. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 275 to 233 (-15%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Melrose, 1852 to 1909

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1852Post officeThe Murat post office opens
  3. 1864Post officeThe Murat post office closes
  4. 1864Post officeThe Royal Oak post office opens
  5. 1882Post officeThe Royal Oak post office closes
  6. 1882Post officeThe Melrose post office opens
  7. 1889In the archivePC170040 38th Reg OVVI Civil War Veterans Melrose 1889
  8. 20th century
  9. 1909On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Melrose, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
PC170040 38th Reg OVVI Civil War Veterans Melrose 18891889PC170040 38th Reg OVVI Civil War Veterans Melrose 1889
1890s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
State below railroad in2015State below railroad inMelrose post office 458612015Melrose post office 45861Melrose United Methodist Church2015Melrose United Methodist ChurchMap of Paulding County Ohio Highlighting Melrose Village2015Map of Paulding County Ohio Highlighting Melrose Vill…MapOHMap-doton-Melrose2004OHMap-doton-Melrose
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

PC170040 38th Reg OVVI Civil War Veterans Melrose 1889
Retake this viewPC170040 38th Reg OVVI Civil War Veterans Melrose 1889, 1889

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Melrose’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Melrose, census by census

01002003004001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 430

Between 188 and 430 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Melrose’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Brown TownshipIts storyB−Washington TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Melrose’s history

What year was Melrose founded?

The Melrose post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), 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.