Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Ameike · CC BY-SA 3.0More historic than 54% of U.S. towns · #602 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of North Olmsted was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1966. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 141 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1910.
The North Olmsted post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Coe Ridge (1843) and Olmsted (1845), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, North Olmsted is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #602 of 993 in Ohio. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls 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 North Olmsted’s 44.8 sits above most of its state (88% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 143 historic buildings outnumber those of 91% 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.
The 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how North Olmsted’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of North Olmsted. 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 North Olmsted.
From Wikipedia’s history of North Olmsted.
The land that became North Olmsted was originally part of the French colony of Canada (New France), which was ceded in 1763 to Great Britain and renamed Province of Quebec. In the late 18th century the land became part of the Connecticut Western Reserve in the Northwest Territory, then was purchased by the Connecticut Land Company in 1795.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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 Survey
Born hereGreg Lynn is born here
Born hereAdam Russell is born hereNo 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 North Olmsted’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 1,030 and 36,480 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on North Olmsted’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
North Olmsted’s post office has been open since 1880. Two other post offices 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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The North Olmsted post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
North Olmsted is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #602 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.
4 listings: 2 buildings, 1 historic district, the Olmsted Falls Historic District, with 141 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 143 historic buildings in all.
5% of North Olmsted’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1966.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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2021
2013
2006