Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 65% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1961 on, and old-book passages.
The Northwest Township post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Northwest (1843), Nettlelake (1848) and Cooney (1881), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 65% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Northwest Township is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 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 Northwest Township’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: 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 Northwest Township’s history is told.
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).
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveAtlas of Williams County, Ohio - from county records, plats and surveys
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWikipedia doesn’t have a history of Northwest Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Northwest Township is one of the twelve townships of Williams County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 1,139 people in the township.
Its first post office opened in 1843. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,236 to 1,139 (-8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Northwest Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
STEPHEN A. Powers, one of the organizers and cashier. of the Farmers Banking Company of Columbia, has spent all his active career in Northwest Township of Williams County, and was a successful general farmer before he took up banking. The Farmers Banking Company was organized and began business in April, 1917. The active officers are C. W. Johnson, president; Emery Bunce, vice president; Stephen A. Powers, cashier; and besides these the members of the board of directors are W. W. Chamberlain,
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Northwest 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 Northwest Township.
Nobody well known was born in Northwest Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Northwest Township post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Northwest Township is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns. 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.
24% of Northwest Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.8 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1982.
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), 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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