Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 23% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Perry Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1915 on, and the census since 1880.
More historic than 23% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Perry Township is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Perry Township’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.
Founding year: our sources. 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 →
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 Perry Township’s history is told.
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 Perry Township. 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 Perry Township.
From Wikipedia’s history of Perry Township.
It is named in honor of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry to commemorate his victory over the British fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie in September 1813. The battle was a turning point in the western theater during the War of 1812. Perry is known for its public schools, whose recent construction was influenced by the nearby Perry Nuclear Generating Station.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Perry Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
emigrated to Ohio and settled two and one-half: miles north of Mansfield, in April, 1831; after two years, they bought a part of the southwest quarter of Sec. 2, Perry Township, where the subjects of this sketch still reside. A farm was cleared, and a saw-mill built in 1836, and the next year a grist-mill was erected, which took the name of Perry Mills; they ran this mill thirtyseven years. They are consistent and zealous members
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
emigrated to Ohio and settled two and one-half miles north of Mansfield, in April, 1831 ; after two years, they bought a part of the southwest quarter of Sec. 2, Perry Township, where the subjects of this sketch still reside. A farm was cleared, and a saw-mill built in 1836, and the next year a grist-mill was erected, which took the name of Perry Mills ; they ran this mill thirtyseven years. They are consistent and zealous members
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Hayesville is now a pleasant village of three or four hundred people. There are several HIS territory was formerly embraced in the limits of Perry Township. June 6) 1825, Perry was divided, setting off a tract six miles square from the west end, and was organized and named Congress. This township has maintained its original form, excepting in
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.
In the archiveUSRC Commodore Perry, Ohio (approximately 1870) - DPLA - 68fdfc99498cc0be14d392bfedd745c0
Born hereManuel Herrick is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Perry Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 170 and 1,663 people in every census since 1880.
12 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Perry Township’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Perry Township is more historic than 23% 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.
8% of Perry Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.9 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1990.
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).
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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