Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Nyttend · Public domainMore historic than 52% of U.S. towns · #639 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of North Ridgeville was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Its Register listings are the North Ridgeville City Hall and the Samuel C. Cahoon House. Its Register listings are the North Ridgeville City Hall and the Samuel C. Cahoon House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1901 on, and the census since 1960.
The North Ridgeville post office opened in 1829, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Ridgeville (1816), Shawville (1874) and Fields (1881), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 52% 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 Ridgeville is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #639 of 993 in Ohio. Its age holds 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 Ridgeville’s 0.5 sits near the middle of its state (47% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how North Ridgeville’s history is told.
North Ridgeville had its own post office from 1829 to 1957. Three 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).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of North Ridgeville. 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 Ridgeville.
From Wikipedia’s history of North Ridgeville.
The first settlement of what is now North Ridgeville was made in 1810. The village was named for a ridge near the original town site.
The former North Ridgeville Town Hall and Samuel C. Cahoon House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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 SurveyNo 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 Ridgeville’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Grew from 8,057 people in 1960 to 35,280 in 2020, 4 times over.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on North Ridgeville’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The North Ridgeville post office opened in 1829, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
North Ridgeville is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #639 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.
Two places: the North Ridgeville City Hall (listed 1974) and the Samuel C. Cahoon House (1978).
3% of North Ridgeville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1995.
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 (1), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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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