Pickerington dates to 1815, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns · #579 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of Pickerington was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2003. Below: maps from 1955 on and the census since 1850.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1831.
History grade
What drives Pickerington’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pickerington is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #579 of 993 in Ohio. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Pickerington’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 Pickerington’s 2.5 sits near the middle of its state (54% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share (±1.1 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1815.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Pickerington’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The story so far
Pickerington, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Pickerington yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Pickerington is a city in Fairfield and Franklin counties in the central region of the U.S. state of Ohio. It is a suburb of Columbus. The population was 23,094 at the 2020 census. It was founded in 1815 as Jacksonville, named after Andrew Jackson. The name was changed in 1827 in honor of its founder, Abraham Pickering. The city of Pickerington has experienced growth, mirroring the expansion of Columbus and the surrounding suburbs, driven by land annexation, development, and immigration to the area. Pickerington is home to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame, located off Interstate 70. The Ohio Secretary of State certified Pickerington as a city in 1991 and it was designated as the "Violet Capital …
Pickerington was established in 1815. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 18,291 to 23,094 (+26%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Pickerington in 1912
Passages that mention Pickerington, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Fairfield County, Ohio1912 · page 193Read the page →
Read the text
The funds being provided, it was thought time to begin the new building. The site chosen was a beautiful hill in the northeast corner of the village of Pickerington, about thirty feet above the main part of the town — a more beautiful site could not be found in Ohio for a school building. The next step was to have an architect make
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Fairfield County, Ohio1912 · page 195Read the page →
Read the text
Inside of another year the trustees expect to have a beautiful library building of their own. They expect to build it on the public square in the village of Pickerington, Ohio. PHYSICIANS OF VIOLET TOWNSHIP Dr. Minor practiced in Pickerington and vicinity earlier than 1836.
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.
In 1815, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Pickerington’s post office opened in 1831, and the census of 1850 counted 157 people here.
How does Pickerington rank for history?
Pickerington is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #579 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 Pickerington?
4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the J. H. Dovel Farm (listed 1982, the first). 6 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Pickerington?
3% of Pickerington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 2003.
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 (4), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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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