Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns · #683 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Below: maps from 1926 on and old-book passages.
Porter Township dates its founding to 1814 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1823.
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Porter Township is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #683 of 993 in Ohio. Its age 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 Porter 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: Wikipedia (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.
Four 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).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Porter Township’s history is told.
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 SurveyWikipedia doesn’t have a history of Porter Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Porter Township is one of the sixteen townships of Scioto County, Ohio, United States. The population as of the 2020 census was 9,876.
Porter Township was established in 1814. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 9,918 in 2010, 9,876 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Porter Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Montgomery be attached to the township of Porter beginning on the line between sections 23 and 26 in township 2, range 20 where Hale’s Creek crosses said line; thence up the creek with the meanders thereof until it strikes said line mentioned so as to include within the limits of Porter Township the said William Montgomery.” December 7, 1836. Valuation and Rank.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Montgomery be attached to the township of Porter beginning on the line between sections 23 and 26 in township 2, range 20 where Hale’s Creek crosses said line; thence up the creek with the meanders thereof until it strikes said line mentioned so as to include within the limits of Porter Township the said William Montgomery.” December 7, 1836. Valuation and Rank.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The first school house in Wheelersburg was built in 1822 and John Young was the first teacher. When the township system of schools was inaugurated, Wheelersburg was sub-district No. 6 of Porter Township. Jesse Y. Whitcomb was elected teacher in 1845. He was a New Englander and had advanced ideas regarding education and the management of schools. He thoroughly organized the Wheelersburg District and so stimulated the people that two years later they built their present brick building of four rooms. It is now a special district. The teachers at present are W. S. Dean. Superintend-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The first school house in Wheelersburg was built in 1822 and John Young was the first teacher. When the township system of schools was inaugurated, Wheelersburg was sub-district No. 6 of Porter Township. Jesse Y. Whitcomb was elected teacher in 1845. He was a New Englander and had advanced ideas regarding education and the management of schools. He thoroughly organized the Wheelersburg District and so stimulated the people that two years later they built their present brick building of four rooms. It is now a special district. The teachers at present are W. S. Dean, Superintend-
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Porter 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 Porter Township.
Nobody well known was born in Porter Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1814, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Porter Township’s post office opened in 1823.
Porter Township is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #683 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.
10% of Porter Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1972.
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), 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.
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