Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns · #577 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: maps from 1907 on and old-book passages.
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Noble Township is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #577 of 993 in Ohio. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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 Noble Township’s 1.7 sits near the middle of its state (52% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Noble Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Noble Township. 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 Noble Township.
Another post office, Brunersburg, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Noble Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Noble Township is one of the twelve townships of Defiance County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 5,909 people in the township.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 6,326 to 5,909 (-7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Noble Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
was agitated, and Defiance County was formed from fhe two south tiers of Williams County, three townships from Henry and Putnam Counties, and a half township from Paulding County. Noble Township was formed from thenorth part of Defiance Township, after having the one-half township added from Paulding. In the latter part of 1849, formed a partnership with Horace Hilton in merchandising and
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyThe country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Nobody well known was born in Noble Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Noble Township is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #577 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.
13% of Noble Township’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 1972.
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 (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.
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