Minster’s post office opened in 1839, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 85% of U.S. towns · #232 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Minster Elementary School and the St. Augustine Catholic Church. Its Register listings are the Minster Elementary School and the St. Augustine Catholic Church. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: the first Minster post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Minster’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Minster is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #232 of 993 in Ohio. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Minster’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 Minster’s 6.3 sits above most of its state (68% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.1 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 Minster’s past
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.
Founded in 1832 as Stallostown (for its founder Francis J. Stallo), the village changed its name to Minster in 1836 (after the heavily Roman Catholic region of Münster in Westphalia, from which many of the settlers came). Minster was founded as part of Mercer County, but it was given to Auglaize County when it was created in 1848. It was mostly comprised from the beginning by German settlers coming from Cincinnati by way of the Miami-Erie Canal bringing their farming skills and Catholic faith with them.
Passages that mention Minster, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of western Ohio and Auglaize County1905 · page 609Read the page →
Read the text
Little or nothing is known of Catholicity in Auglaize county, Ohio, previous to 1831. The names of Catholics are prominent in history as among the first settlers, in fact, the town of Minster, in the southwestern part of Auglaize, was founded by Mr. F. J. Stallo, a Catholic, and was for some time called after him.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of western Ohio and Auglaize County, with illustrations and biographical sketches of pioneers and prominent public men1905 · page 609Read the page →
Read the text
Little or nothing is known of Catholicity in Auglaize county, Ohio, previous to 1831. The names of Catholics are prominent in history as among the first settlers, in fact, the town of Minster, in the southwestern part of Auglaize, was founded by Mr. F. J. Stallo, a Catholic, and was for some time called after him.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of western Ohio and Auglaize County1905 · page 853Read the page →
Read the text
tion of the reservoir embankment at or near Celina, Ohio, and finally, about the time of his first marriage, with the financial assistance of his father and father-in-law, erected the first steam saw mill in Minster. He carried on the sawmill business until February, 1856, when he sold out, and having saved a considerable amount of money, contemplated a removal to some western state, but after making a tour of Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa and Kansas, he decided to remain in Minster, and engaged in
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of western Ohio and Auglaize County, with illustrations and biographical sketches of pioneers and prominent public men1905 · page 852Read the page →
Read the text
town, now the village of Minster. The journey from Cincinnati was exceedingly tiresome after their long voyage by sea and by river. Judge Stueve remembers the inquiry made by his mother at different times, “how far is it yet?” and that the last time the question was asked, the teamster answered “we are now in the midst of Stallo town.” A few huts scattered about in the dense forest constituted all there was of the village.
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
Minster, 1839 to 1997
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.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Minster’s history
What year was Minster founded?
The Minster post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Minster rank for history?
Minster is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #232 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 Minster?
Two places: the Minster Elementary School (listed 1979) and the St. Augustine Catholic Church (1979).
How old are the homes in Minster?
25% of Minster’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1966.
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 (4), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
1909
2015
2004
