Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns · #789 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of Northfield was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1966. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1903 on, and the census since 1920.
Northfield dates its founding to 1807 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1920.
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Northfield is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #789 of 993 in Ohio. Its age 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 Northfield’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: Wikidata (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 Northfield’s history is told.
Lost two-thirds of its people between 1930 and 1940, then grew 6-fold.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Northfield’s Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Northfield. 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 Northfield.
From Wikipedia’s history of Northfield.
A post office called Northfield has been in operation since 1837. Some say the name is a transfer from Northfield, Massachusetts, while others believe the town site's location in the northern part of Summit County caused the name to be selected.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Northfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Civil War they operated the Exchange Hotel, but in 1866 Mr. Bishop took charge of the American House, in Cleveland. Returning to Northfield in 1873 he purchased the farm one and one-fourth miles west of Northfield Center, returning to the quiet of country life as a means of regaining his health.
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 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 Northfield’s page.
Retake this view · +15Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1807, according to Wikidata. the census of 1920 counted 861 people here.
Northfield is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #789 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% of Northfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 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 (4), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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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