Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1911 on and the census since 1900.
The Ottoville post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Dog Creek (1852) and Otto (1880), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
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 Ottoville’s history is told.
Ottoville’s post office has been open since 1881. Two 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).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ottoville. 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 Ottoville.
From Wikipedia’s history of Ottoville.
The first plat at Ottoville was made in 1845 for John Otto Bredeich. The effort at first proved unsuccessful, and the town site was platted again in 1873. A post office called Otto was established in 1880, and the name was changed to Ottoville in 1881. Ottoville was incorporated as a village in 1890.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Ottoville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
In the fall of 1914, the town of Ottoville completed arrangements with the Electric Light and Power Company, of Delphos, Ohio, whereby the latter company agreed to furnish electric current for Ottoville at a definite rate.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The first Constable was Harvey Racon, elected in April, 1851. As. an at the last election for Governor, October, 1879, two hundred and thirty votes were cast. The town of Ottoville was laid out in 1850 by Father Broedike, of Delphos, and is now a thriving village, with a population of about two hundred and fifty.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1889 he sold his plant at Lagrange and moved to Ottoville, Ohio, engaging at once in the manufacture of lumber. Scarcely seven years has passed since he located in Ottoville, and yet so great has been his energy that today he is at the head of the largest sawmill business in the county and one of the largest and most reputable in the State, employing continuously eighteen Church street the most beautiful residence in the town of Otto ville.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
There is only one town in Monterey township, Ottoville. The platting of Ottoville has had some marked and varied changes, as shown by the records for those acts. In 1845, Elias Everett, county surveyor, platted for John Otto Bredeick a parcel of land in the northeast corner of section 30.
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 SurveyBetween 369 and 976 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ottoville’s Wikipedia page.
The Ottoville post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (5), 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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