The Orwell post office opened in 1826, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, East Orwell (1889), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,533200 years
How historic is Orwell?
B
More historic than 59% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Orwell post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Orwell’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Orwell is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Orwell’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 Orwell’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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Orwell’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A post office called Orwell has been in operation since 1826. The name Orwell is derived from Orwell, Vermont, the native home of an early settler.
Orwell is the location of the King Training Camp, owned by boxing promoter Don King. The facility, housed on State Route 45 South, often features famous boxers as well as up-and-coming fighters under King's promotional umbrella. In May 2006, the KTC hosted former undisputed welterweight champion Cory Spinks as he trained for his comeback fight against another Don King-backed fighter, IBF super welterweight champ Roman Karmazin.
Passages that mention Orwell, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Ashtabula County Ohio1924 · page 380Read the page →
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Orwell has always been one of the prosperous communities of the county, the milling industry being one of its chief establishments, commercially. The center of the village is about a mile from the station of the Pennsylvania Railroad, the settlement about which is known as East Orwell.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Ashtabula County, Ohio1878 · page 231Read the page →
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Leffingwell would have secured for it, it was many years after the survey before immigrants could be induced to take up their abode in it. What was known as a woods road, leading through the forest from Austinburg through Rome and Orwell, had been opened nearly twenty years before the time of settlement in Orwell, and hence a stream of emigration had passed through the township for many years prior to the coming of permanent settlers. During a number of years Leffingwell was attached to Rome for purposes of organization, many years elapsing after the arrival of the first settler before there was a sufficient number to enable the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Ashtabula County, Ohio1878 · page 232Read the page →
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Daniel K. Wolcott, from Bristol, Hartford county, Connecticut, having become owner of four hundred and seventy-six and one-half acres of section 13, comprising a large share of the present town-site of the village of Orwell, settled upon his purchase in April, 1822. During the summer of this year he built the first frame house in the township, located near the present site of Mr. Graham's store. This Mr. Wolcott opened as a tavern-stand, and was well patronized.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Ashtabula County Ohio1924 · page 378Read the page →
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With a class of a dozen pupils, Miss Lydia C. Walcott taught the first school in Orwell, in 1822. In 1851 Orwell Academy erected a large building, and became a very popular educational establishment. The first board
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.
By decade
Orwell, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone
Orwell’s post office has been open since 1826. Another post office, East Orwell, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Orwell
1826–today
East Orwell
1889–1985
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Asbury ParkEast Orwell
Gone or out of use
Orwell Stationlocale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Orwell’s history
What year was Orwell founded?
The Orwell post office opened in 1826, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Orwell rank for history?
Orwell is more historic than 59% 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.
How old are the homes in Orwell?
18% of Orwell’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 1976.
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 (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
2004