Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 73% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Reuben Benedict House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1915 on, and old-book passages.
More historic than 73% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Peru Township is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 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 Peru Township’s 7.5 sits above most of its state (70% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 Peru 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 Peru 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 Peru Township.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Peru Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Peru Township is one of the sixteen townships of Morrow County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 1,496 people in the township.
Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,513 in 2010, 1,496 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Peru Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
the general circumstances that afiected the tide of emigration. Cardington, then known as Morrow Township, was not settled until about 1821. It drew its pioneers from Peru Township and the Middle States principally, though the older counties of Ohio contributed no small share to building up the community. Gilead Township drew its settlement from Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
the general circumstances that affected the tide of emigration. Cardington, then known as Morrow Township, was not settled until about 1821. It drew its pioneers from Peru Township and the Middle States principally, though the older counties of Ohio contributed no small share to building up the community. Gilead Township drew its settlement from Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Hesper Mount Seminary and Alum Creek Academy are both located in Peru Township. The former was opened in 1845. It is near the church of the Friends, and has generally been known as the " Quaker School." Alum Creek Academy is situated a little west of Ashley, and was founded in 1875 by Dr. Townsend. It is now conducted by Bachel E. Levering. A more
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Hesper Mount Seminary and Alum Creek Academy are both located in Peru Township. The former was opened in 1845. It is near the church of the Friends, and has generally been known as the “ Quaker School.” Alum Creek Academy is situated a little west of Ashley, and was founded in 1875 by Dr. Townsend. It is now conducted by Rachel E. Levering. A 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.
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 SurveyNo 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 Peru Township’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.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Peru Township is more historic than 73% 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 Reuben Benedict House (listed 2000).
18% of Peru Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.6 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
Date?
2015
2011