Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Lucius Green House. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1870 on and old-book passages.
The Perry post office opened in 1819, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 78% 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 is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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’s 5.8 sits above most of its state (66% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereWilliam B. Allison is born here
In the archiveUSRC Commodore Perry, Ohio (approximately 1870) - DPLA - 68fdfc99498cc0be14d392bfedd745c0
Born hereManuel Herrick is born hereWriters, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
From Wikipedia’s history of Perry.
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, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Rush Creek lies in the southeastern part, and is the most eastern portion ot" Fairheld county. It is bounded on tlie north by Richland township of Fairfield, and Reading township of Perry county : on the south by Marion townsliip of Hocking county ; on the east by Jackson township of Perry county : and on the west by Pleasant and Berne townships. It is six miles square, and contains thirty-six square miles or 23,040 acres of land. It became a township in 1804. and was surveyed by Elnathan Schofield, an early citizen of Lancaster, who also
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Hanover, the first laid out town in what is now Perry county, was established by Jacob Dittoe, in 1804, about four miles west of Fink's tavern, on Zane's Trace, in what is now Reading township, Perry county. The village never amounted to much, though a few families gathered there, and in 1818, one of the first actsof the Court of Common Pleas of Perry was in response to a petition of the proprietor, to annul the town plat of Planover, and the lots, streets and alleys reverted to the proprietor simply as land, and Hanover was no more.
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.
One 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’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The Perry post office opened in 1819, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Perry is more historic than 78% 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.
One place: the Lucius Green House (listed 1976).
18% of Perry’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1995.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
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