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B+History
History · Newcomerstown

Newcomerstown’s post office opened in 1816, and 40% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 74% of U.S. towns · #375 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1895 on, and the census since 1850.

1816first post office
0on the National Register
40%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Newcomerstown’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Newcomerstown began

When was Newcomerstown founded?

1816

The Newcomerstown post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, New Comerstown (1840), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 476 in 18502020 census: 3,702210 years

How historic is Newcomerstown?

B+

More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Newcomerstown’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Newcomerstown is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #375 of 993 in Ohio. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Newcomerstown’s overall grade.
Founding era1816, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194040.1% of homes (±9.6) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%ANational 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 74%
NewerOlder
Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 62%

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 Newcomerstown’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 A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.6 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 Newcomerstown’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1895 to 1924, drew every building in Newcomerstown.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Newcomerstown, and 4 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19115 editions of the USGS map, 1911 to 1993. Watch Newcomerstown change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Newcomerstown’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewView on Tuscarawas River at: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Newcomerstown, building by building, 1895–1924

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.

Newcomerstown fire insurance map, 1895, sheet 11895Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Newcomerstown’s post office has been open since 1816. Another post office, New Comerstown, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Newcomerstown
1816–today
New Comerstown
1840–1914
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Beaver Street Trailer CourtCoalportCreekside CrossingMizers
Gone or out of use
Church of ChristchurchMaplewood Public SchoolschoolRescue Mission TabernaclechurchSaint Francis De Sales SchoolschoolStark Patent Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Newcomerstown
East State StreetSouth BridgeState Street

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

The story

How Newcomerstown came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Newcomerstown.

Read it all →

The name comes from a Lenape (Delaware) village established in the 1760s by Netawatwees (c. 1686-1776), also known as Newcomer. Newcomer migrated to the area from Cuyahoga Falls with his band of Lenape Indians. The Lenape name of the town was Gekelukpechink, meaning "still water." The town was used as a meeting place for the Iroquois Great Council, and English and American traders called it Newcomer's town. By 1771, more than one hundred dwellings had been built. In 1776, more than seven hundred Lenape and several traders lived in the town. Soon after the start of the American Revolutionary War, the Lenape moved west to Coshocton.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Newcomerstown in 1884

Passages that mention Newcomerstown, cut from the printed page as they were published.

acquiesced to his demands, and surrendered to him all the white captives who had been adopted in the tribe and were dwelling in their midst. A new capital was founded at Gekelemukpechunk, near the exit of the river from the county, where the thriving town of Newcomerstown now stands. When hostiliti…
The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio1884 · page 212Read the page →
Read the text

acquiesced to his demands, and surrendered to him all the white captives who had been adopted in the tribe and were dwelling in their midst. A new capital was founded at Gekelemukpechunk, near the exit of the river from the county, where the thriving town of Newcomerstown now stands. When hostilities began between the colonies and England, at this capital the Indian warriors gathered and sat in council; here they smoked the pipe of peace, and harangued in burning Indian eloquence; here they deliberated and decided questions of policy, involving war or peace with the border settlers. The

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
South of Newcomerstown, No. 6 is the only coal bed of importance met with to the county line. It is first seen at the Red Schoolhouse, just south of the river, at 135 feet above the railroad, and is only two and a half feet thick.
The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio1884 · page 225Read the page →
Read the text

South of Newcomerstown, No. 6 is the only coal bed of importance met with to the county line. It is first seen at the Red Schoolhouse, just south of the river, at 135 feet above the railroad, and is only two and a half feet thick.

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

Newcomerstown, 1816 to 1914

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1816Post officeThe Newcomerstown post office opens
  3. 1840Post officeThe New Comerstown post office opens
  4. 1842Born hereFreeman Davis is born here
  5. 1867Born hereWilliam Burress is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1908In the archiveView on Tuscarawas River at
  8. 1911On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1914In the archiveJ. Foster Wilkin 1914
  10. 1914Post officeThe New Comerstown post office closes
By decade

Newcomerstown, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s2 items
View on Tuscarawas River at1908View on Tuscarawas River atJ. Foster Wilkin 19141914J. Foster Wilkin 1914
1920s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Newcomerstown Middle School (Ohio)2016Newcomerstown Middle School (Ohio)Lee Stadium2016Lee StadiumMap of Tuscarawas County Ohio Highlighting Newcomerstown Village2015Map of Tuscarawas County Ohio Highlighting Newcomerst…MapOHMap-doton-Newcomerstown2004OHMap-doton-Newcomerstown
On the map

Newcomerstown on the map, 1911 to 1993

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

Newcomerstown on the 1911 USGS mapNewcomerstown on the 1943 USGS mapNewcomerstown on the 1961 USGS mapNewcomerstown on the 1972 USGS mapNewcomerstown on the 1993 USGS map1911Newcomerstown 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 Newcomerstown.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

View on Tuscarawas River at
Retake this viewView on Tuscarawas River at, 1908

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Newcomerstown’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Newcomerstown, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0001850190019502000Peak: 4,564

Between 476 and 4,564 people in every census since 1850.

18 censuses, 1850–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Newcomerstown

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
William BurressAmerican actor · b. 1867
F
Freeman DavisMedal of Honor recipient · b. 1842
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Oxford TownshipIts storyBOxford TownshipIts storyC+

Questions about Newcomerstown’s history

What year was Newcomerstown founded?

The Newcomerstown post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Newcomerstown rank for history?

Newcomerstown is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #375 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 Newcomerstown?

40% of Newcomerstown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.6 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1948.

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 (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.