Ontario dates to 1834, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 57% of U.S. towns · #568 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of Ontario was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Its Register listing is the Springfield Township School. Below: maps from 1915 on and the census since 1960.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1828.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Ontario’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ontario is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #568 of 993 in Ohio. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ontario’s overall grade.
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 Ontario’s 1.5 sits near the middle of its state (51% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.8 points). Two sources give 1834.
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 →
What stands out about Ontario’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Ontario was founded by Hiram Cook, and was platted in December 1834 as a settlement in Springfield Township near Mansfield. During that same month thereafter, the original settlement of Ontario merged with New Castle, another small settlement that was originally located just to the west of the Ontario settlement along the Mansfield and Bucyrus route (known today as State Route 309) that had just been laid out and platted. New Castle was named for Henry Cassell, while others stated that it was named in honor of Newcastle upon Tyne, a city in England. Ontario was named after Ontario County, New York, the native place of the founder of the town. In 1863, the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad (later Erie Railroad mainline) reached Ontario and a train station was built, but was later demolished after much of the railway was abandoned in the late 20th century.
Passages that mention Ontario, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Richland County, Ohio1880 · page 591Read the page →
Read the text
Hiram Cook came to this township in 1820, from a place called Ontario, in Orange County, N. Y. He bought a farm a few miles south of the present village of Ontario, where he lived several 3-ears, and having purchased the land on which Ontario now stands, laid out that place in a dense woods. It was on the trail leading from Mansfield to Bucyrus, by way of Gallon.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Richland County, Ohio, from 1808 to 1908. Also biographical sketches of prominent citizens of the county1908 · page 1003Read the page →
Read the text
William B. Millikin, a retired farmer and traveling man, now residing in the village of Ontario, is numbered among Ohio's native sons, his birth having occurred in Allen county, December 2, 1837. His father, Daniel Millikin, was bom in Washington county, Pennsylvania, October 20, 1812, and was a farmer and merchant. The grandfather, John H. Millikin, was also a native of the Keystone state, and for a time resided in Frederickstown, Ohio, while just prior to the war of 1812 he removed to Washington county, Pennsylvania.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Richland County, Ohio1880 · page 590Read the page →
Read the text
schoolhouses, schools being kept in private houses and barns. It is believed, the first schoolhouse was on the Rallston farm, two miles north of Ontario, It was a primitive aflTair, made of logs, with a puncheon floor, a fireplace of ample proportions, and logs hewn flat on one side for seats. Hundreds of such buildings dotted the country in those days.
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.
Timeline
Ontario, 1828 to 1915
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1834, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Ontario’s post office opened in 1828, and the census of 1960 counted 3,049 people here.
How does Ontario rank for history?
Ontario is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #568 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.
What is on the National Register in Ontario?
One place: the Springfield Township School (listed 2003).
How old are the homes in Ontario?
6% of Ontario’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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), 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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