Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Millbury

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
CHistory
History · Millbury

Millbury’s post office opened in 1857

More historic than 26% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Millbury was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 1880.

1857first post office
0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Nyttend · Public domain
Quick answers

How Millbury began

When was Millbury founded?

1857

The Millbury post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 483 in 18802020 census: 1,193169 years

How historic is Millbury?

C

More historic than 26% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Millbury post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Millbury’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Millbury is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Millbury’s overall grade.
Founding era1857, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19408.8% of homes (±4.5) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%C+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical OH town 2.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 26%
NewerOlder

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 Millbury’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 C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 Millbury’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Millbury are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1890 and 1920, then grew 5-fold.On the map since 19006 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1994. Watch Millbury change.Lost villages4 hamlets and corners are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Millbury’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Millbury, census by census

02004006008001,0001,20018801900192019401960198020002020546 in 1890Low: 232

Lost half of its people between 1890 and 1920, then grew 5-fold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

On the map

Millbury on the map, 1900 to 1994

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

Millbury on the 1900 USGS mapMillbury on the 1935 USGS mapMillbury on the 1952 USGS mapMillbury on the 1965 USGS mapMillbury on the 1980 USGS mapMillbury on the 1994 USGS map1900Maumee Bay 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 Millbury.

The story

How Millbury came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Millbury.

Read it all →

Previously, the site of Millbury was known as Clay Junction. Millbury was platted in 1864, and named after Millbury, Massachusetts. A post office called Millbury has been in operation since 1857. Millbury was incorporated in 1874.

At approximately 11:15 PM on June 5, 2010, an EF4 tornado tore through the town, destroying at least 50 homes and killing seven people. This tornado also destroyed the Lake Township Administration Building and Police Department, and Lake High School. Governor Ted Strickland declared a state of emergency.

Chapters2010 tornado

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Millbury, 1857 to 2010

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Millbury post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 21st century
  6. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 1,200
By decade

Millbury, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Lake High School (Millbury, Ohio), January 20222022Lake High School (Millbury, Ohio), January 2022Millbury post office 434472016Millbury post office 43447Millbury St. Peter's UCC2016Millbury St. Peter's UCCMap of Wood County Ohio Highlighting Millbury Village2015Map of Wood County Ohio Highlighting Millbury VillageMapOHMap-doton-Millbury2004OHMap-doton-Millbury
Places that used to be

Old corners

Millbury’s post office has been open since 1857.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Crane Creek PlaceHille FarmsLindbergh HeightsUpdyke Addition

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Lake TownshipIts storyCClay Township3 historic placesA

Questions about Millbury’s history

What year was Millbury founded?

The Millbury post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Millbury rank for history?

Millbury is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns. 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 Millbury?

9% of Millbury’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1979.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (5), 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.