Founding year: the first Ostrander post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Ostrander’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ostrander is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ostrander’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 Ostrander’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 B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.1 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 Ostrander’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Ostrander was laid out in 1852, and incorporated as a village in 1875. The village has the name of one Shelemiah Ostrander, a railroad official. Ostrander was placed along the CCC&I Railroad, which served as the village's lifeline for much of its history. Although the tracks running through Ostrander were taken out of service in 1971, evidence of its locomotive history remains with a railroad bridge over Blues Creek.
Passages that mention Ostrander, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Delaware County and Ohio. Containing a brief history of the State of Ohio ... biographical sketches ... etc1880 · page 485Read the page →
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The Deans came into the State from Pennsylvania before it was admitted into the Union but it was not until 1829 that they settled in this township, near the present town of Ostrander. About thirteen years ago, the father dying, the family moved into what is now the village of Ostrander, where Samuel D. Dean, the son, at present resides.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
history of delaware county and ohio1880 · page 485Read the page →
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The Deans came into the State from Pennsylvania before it was admitted into the Union but it was not until 1829 that they settled in this township, near the present town of Ostrander. About thirteen years ago, the father dying, the family moved into what is now the village of Ostrander, where Samuel D. Dean, the son, at present resides.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Delaware County and Ohio. Containing a brief history of the State of Ohio ... biographical sketches ... etc1880 · page 490Read the page →
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The village of Ostrander is the largest in Scioto Township, and is situated in the south central part on the Short Line Branch of the Cleveland, Columhus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railroad, ahout seven miles and a half from the town of Delaware.
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history of delaware county and ohio1880 · page 794Read the page →
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same for over three years, and then worked some time on a canal-boat. After marriage, he kept boarders, and he worked by the month. In 1852, they came to Ostrander, and Mr. Maloney worked on.the Springfield Railroad; in 1853, they moved to Olive Green,. where he worked awhile on a proposed railroad; they then went to Kentucky, where they again worked on a railroad; in 1854,
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.
Grew from 269 people in 1880 to 1,094 in 2020, 4 times over.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ostrander’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Ostrander’s history
What year was Ostrander founded?
The Ostrander post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Ostrander rank for history?
Ostrander is more historic than 35% 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 Ostrander?
16% of Ostrander’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 2006.
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), 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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