More historic than 36% of U.S. towns · #789 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of Mount Carmel was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1898 on.
Founding year: the first Mount Carmel post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Mount Carmel’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mount Carmel is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #789 of 993 in Ohio. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mount Carmel’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 Mount Carmel’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 (±3.4 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 Mount Carmel’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Mt. Carmel is one of the oldest communities in Union Township. In 1788 surveyor John Obannon and his team came in this mostly unsettled area to prepare for building and developing new homes and businesses. It was mostly inhabited by Revolutionary War soldiers. Their property was basically payment for fighting the battles through the Ohio Land Grant. This could have included several hundred acres.
A pioneer from New Jersey, John Rose who was one of the first to settle there in 1796, is actually considered the father of Mt. Carmel. The only historical sign of his presence today is a very small graveyard where he is buried, going down Rose Hill entering Hamilton County. According to one historian, Rose may have picked the name from the Bible.
The Mount Carmel post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Mount Carmel rank for history?
Mount Carmel is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #789 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 Mount Carmel?
4% of Mount Carmel’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
Date?