Middletown’s post office opened in 1807, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns · #109 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
8 places in town are on the National Register, among them the John B. Tytus House, a National Historic Landmark, and four historic districts with 594 buildings between them. 8 places in town are on the National Register, among them the John B. Tytus House, a National Historic Landmark, and four historic districts with 594 buildings between them. Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1820.
How Middletown began, and where its name came from
When was Middletown founded?
1807
The Middletown post office opened in 1807, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1833. Two smaller post offices, Blueball (1844) and Lemon (1878), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 314 in 18202020 census: 50,987219 years
How did Middletown get its name?
One local historian stated that the city received its name because Vail had come from Middletown, New Jersey.
More on the name
Another writer believed that the city was named Middletown because it was the midway point of navigation on the Great Miami River, which was then considered a navigable stream.
How historic is Middletown?
A
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Middletown is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #109 of 993 in Ohio. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Middletown’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 Middletown’s 116 sits above most of its state (94% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 598 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% 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 (±1.6 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1833 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Middletown’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Blueball Post Officepost officeJefferson Elementary SchoolschoolLemon Post Officepost officeMaple Park SchoolschoolMcKinley Elementary SchoolschoolMiddletown Fire Station 3buildingOakland Presbyterian ChurchchurchOneida Elementary SchoolschoolSaint Pauls German Lutheran ChurchchurchSchool Number 1schoolSchool Number 12schoolSchool Number 6schoolSchool Number 7schoolSchool Number 8school
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Middletown
AmandaCalvaryDicks CreekMiddletownWoodside Cemetery and Arboretum
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Middletown is mostly part of the 1788 Symmes Purchase of 311,682 acres (487.003 sq mi; 1,261.33 km2) purchased by Judge John Cleves Symmes of New Jersey in 1788 from the Continental Congress as part of the Land Ordinance of 1785.
Stephen Vail Jr. purchased land on the eastern bank of the Great Miami River from Symmes and platted 52 lots for the village in 1802. The purchase was complicated when it was discovered that Symmes did not own all the land thought to have been sold to Vail, and eventually, after Vail's death, the Ohio Supreme Court permitted the transactions to go through.
Passages that mention Middletown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio1905 · page 283Read the page →
Read the text
Middletown stood as an unincorporated hamlet or village until 1833, when the legislature, on the nth day of February, passed an act of incorporation, and on the 1st day of April of that year an election for councilmen and village officers was held, resulting in the choice of the following persons : Mayor, I. T. Gibson ; recorder, F. J. Tytus ;
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio1905 · page 304Read the page →
Read the text
In 1882 the Middletown Electric Light Company came knocking at the gates of the village, asking a grant to erect towers, poles, stays, and to suspend wires for the purpose of lighting the village of Middletown with electricity. This was a new departure, and if it came it meant that gas would have an active competitor for public lighting. Elec-
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
Middletown, 1807 to 1990
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Middletown. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1908Miamisburg 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 Middletown.
Every building
Middletown, building by building, 1885–1924
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.
The Middletown post office opened in 1807, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1833.
How does Middletown rank for history?
Middletown is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #109 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.
What is on the National Register in Middletown?
8 listings: 4 buildings, among them the John B. Tytus House (a National Historic Landmark since 1976), and 4 historic districts with 594 contributing buildings. 598 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Middletown?
20% of Middletown’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 1965.
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 (18), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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.
★ Landmark
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