Perkins Township’s post office opened in 1816, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 73% of U.S. towns · #400 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of Perkins Township was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: maps from 1904 on and the census since 1880.
The Perkins Township post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Perkins (1816), Bogart (1882) and Wilmer (1899), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,878 in 18802020 census: 12,390210 years
How historic is Perkins Township?
B+
More historic than 73% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Perkins Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Perkins Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Perkins Township is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns, #400 of 993 in Ohio. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Perkins Township’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 Perkins Township’s 34.5 sits above most of its state (86% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 43 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. 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 Perkins Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Perkins Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1904Sandusky sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Perkins Township.
The story so far
Perkins Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Perkins Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Perkins Township is one of the nine townships of Erie County, Ohio, United States. It is part of the Sandusky, Ohio metropolitan statistical area. As of the 2020 census the population was 12,390.
Its first post office opened in 1816. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 12,202 in 2010, 12,390 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Perkins Township in 1916
Passages that mention Perkins Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A standard history of Erie County, Ohio1916 · page 508Read the page →
Read the text
first of the German families to locate in Sandusky. For a few years after settling in this city he was in the employ of the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark Railroad Company, and while with it purchased a tract of heavily timbered land in Perkins Township, and having erected in the wilderness a log house moved his family there. Subsequently giving up his position with the railroad company, he devoted the remainder of his life to the clearing of the land and the tilling of the soil, improving a good homestead.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A standard history of Erie County, Ohio1916 · page 631Read the page →
Read the text
Herman W. Otto. A resident of Erie County since his childhood, Mr. Otto maintains his abode on his well improved farm lying contiguous to the City of Sandusky, in Perkins Township, and on the highway that is virtually a continuation of South Hayes Avenue of the metropolis and judicial center of the county. He is one of the progressive and substantial citizens of Perkins Township, earnest in support of agencies and measures that tend to advance the general welfare of the comiimnity, and held in high esteem in the county that has repre-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
a standard history of erie county, ohio1916 · page 319Read the page →
Read the text
for a larger and appropriate cemetery tract. In 1850 another committee was appointed for the selection and purchase of a tract of land for the purpose of a cemetery and city poor farm. The negotiations resulted in contracting for a tract in Perkins Township and 136 acres in extent, with Jane 8S. Williams, at the price of $4,701.90, and on this tract beautiful Oakland Cemetery was laid out. ‘The first sale of lots was April 29, 1850.
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
Perkins Township, 1816 to 1985
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Perkins Township post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Perkins Township rank for history?
Perkins Township is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns, #400 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 Perkins Township?
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Erie County Infirmary (listed 1975, the first), and 1 structure. 43 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Perkins Township?
5% of Perkins Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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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