Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1826.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Middlefield Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Middlefield Township is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #604 of 993 in Ohio. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Middlefield Township’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 Middlefield Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.8 points). Two sources give 1799.
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 →
What stands out about Middlefield Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Middlefield Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1905Garrettsville 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 Middlefield Township.
Timeline
Middlefield Township, 1799 to 1973
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Once named "Batavia," the village received its current name because it was the midway point between Painesville and Warren. Middlefield was established in 1799 by James Thompson and his father, Isaac Thompson, and incorporated in 1901.
Joseph Johnson settled north of Middlefield on what is now known as Johnson Corners in 1800. In 1818, James Thompson built a hotel. This hotel, later named The Century Inn, is currently the home of the Middlefield Historical Association. The Historical Association operates a small railroad museum in the summers, The Depot, focused on the 1873 narrow gauge railway between Painesville and Warren.
Middlefield's first manufacturing company was the Johnson Pail Company, founded in 1895.
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.
In 1799, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Middlefield Township’s post office opened in 1826, and the census of 1910 counted 640 people here.
How does Middlefield Township rank for history?
Middlefield Township is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #604 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.
How old are the homes in Middlefield Township?
14% of Middlefield Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 (6), Wikipedia, 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.
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