Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 47% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1911 on, and the census since 1870.
The New Boston post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 47% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New Boston is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 New Boston’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 6,024 in 1940; 2,297 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on New Boston’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of New Boston.
New Boston was platted on February 17, 1891, by James Skelton, A.T. Holcomb, and M. Stanton. The village was named after Boston, Massachusetts, the native home of a share of the first settlers.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention New Boston, cut from the printed page as they were published.
son; Justices of the Peace, Thomas C. Lantz and William Harper. The township is divided into two precincts for voting purposes. The voting place in Precinct A is at the school house in Sub-district No. 3 near the residence of Philip Bobst. Precinct B is at New Boston and a building was erected here in 1896 at a cost of $174.50, for voting purposes and township use. Surface, Drainage and Products.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Peebles Paving Brick Company was incorporated in 1902 with a capital stock of $50,000, all of which is paid up. This Company has erected a paving brick plant on the Peebles farm about one mile west of New Boston on the Norfolk and Western, and Baltimore and Ohio S-W. railroads. The plant was completed and put in operation in June, 1902, with a capacity of 60,000 paving brick per day. The officers of the corporation are: John Peebles, President and Treasurer: Samuel Reed, Secretary; and Adam Buch, Vice-president. The capital stock will shortly be increased to $75,000.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Peebles Paving Brick Company was incorporated in 1902 with a capital stock of $50,000, all of which is paid up. This Company has erected a paying brick plant on the Peebles farm about one mile west of New Boston on the Norfolk and Western, and Baltimore and Ohio S-W. railroads. The plant was completed and put in operation in June, 1902, with a capacity of 60,000 paving brick per day. The officers of the corporation are: John Peebles, President and ‘’reasurer; Samuel Reed, Secretary; and Adam Buch, Vice-president. The capital stock will shortly be increased to $75,000.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The schools were transferred to and became a part of the Portsmouth school system, April 19, 1901. The rapid growth of New Boston made it necessary to establish a school there in 1895. A room was rented for school purposes. On May 9, 1896, a new building was ordered for New Boston and the “Red School House” !was ordered moved to Earlytown. A new sub-district, No. 9, was instituted for Earlytown in 1897 and New Boston became No. 4, The build- ,
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveNew Boston-Empire Detroit Steel New Boston Coke (CORF)
Born hereVernal G. Riffe, Jr. is born here
Born hereArnold R. Highfield is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1899New Boston-Empire Detroit Steel New Boston Coke (CORF)
1899New Boston-Empire Detroit Steel New Boston Coke (CORF)
1899New Boston-Empire Detroit Steel New Boston Coke (CORF)
1899New Boston-Empire Detroit Steel New Boston Coke (CORF)
1899New Boston-Empire Detroit Steel New Boston Coke (CORF)
1899New Boston-Empire Detroit Steel New Boston Coke (CORF)Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of New Boston. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of New Boston.
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 sheet.
1911Sheet 1 of 4Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on New Boston’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
New Boston had its own post office from 1891 to 1900.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The New Boston post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
New Boston is more historic than 47% 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.
29% of New Boston’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1958.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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, 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.
