Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Pleasant Hill United Church of Christ. Below: 4 old photos and papers from 1910 on and old-book passages.
Pleasant Hill dates its founding to 1866 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1839.
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pleasant Hill is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls 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 Pleasant Hill’s 6.6 sits above most of its state (68% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Pleasant Hill’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Pleasant Hill.
Pleasant Hill was originally called Newton, and under the latter name was platted in 1843. A post office called Pleasant Hill has been in operation since 1839, although the post office was originally located about one mile away from its present location. The village was incorporated in 1866.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Pleasant Hill, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Clegg taught there in 1813 and Amos Perry and John Pearson succeeded him. In 1866 Sub-district No. 7, which includes the town of Pleasant Hill, was organized into a special school district, since when a large schoolhouse has been built in which the graded schools are today conducted in an able manner.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Subdistrict No. 7, which included the village of Pleasant Hill, was organized into a special district November 3, 1866. The first Directors of this district were William Patty, M. D., C. W. Davis, J. K. Teeter, George Shoemaker, Nathan Hill and David Minnich. The different grades were taught the first year by Oliver Furnas and Harriett Moore. Owing to the rapidly increasing population, the house became too small to accommodate the pupils, so that in January, 1875, it was decided to erect a more commodious structure. Obed Macy was chosen architect, the old schoolhouse and lot were sold for $400, and the new house, 60x62
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
congregation until about 1868, when it was blown down by a storm. The new brick church was then erected on the present site at Pleasant Hill. Mr. Hill was always present at the services, chopped the wood, made the fires and swept the house, and kept the grounds in order. He always took part in the praying, singing and exhorting,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The post office receipts at Troy have grown from less than $40,000 per annum to $50,000 per annum under Mr. Dale's administration. He is an effi cient business man and needs to be under the new uLt.es thrust on him by the post office department. All the post offices of Miami county except Piqua, Tippecanoe City, and Pleasant Hill, fourteen in all, have been made stations or branches of Troy, which receives their reports as a part of the Troy office. This recent departure, probably portends but one office, Troy, in the county, except possibly Piqua. Some of us are not in love with Mr. Dale’s politics but all of us like him personally.
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.
Born hereJesse Beery is born here
In the archiveChurch of the BrethrenOne decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. 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 Pleasant Hill’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.
In 1866, according to Wikidata. Pleasant Hill’s post office opened in 1839.
Pleasant Hill is more historic than 71% 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 Pleasant Hill United Church of Christ (listed 2002).
34% of Pleasant Hill’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1952.
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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