Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns · #87 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
11 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 50 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1830.
Ravenna dates its founding to 1799 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1830.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ravenna is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #87 of 993 in Ohio. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age 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 Ravenna’s 54.1 sits above most of its state (89% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 61 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% 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 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.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1884Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ravenna. 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 Ravenna.
From Wikipedia’s history of Ravenna.
Ravenna was founded by Benjamin Tappan, who arrived there on June 11, 1799, to lay claim in his father's name to land purchased in the Connecticut Western Reserve. Tappan did not stay in the area for long, however, but built a settlement of log cabins before returning to Connecticut during the summer of 1800.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Ravenna, cut from the printed page as they were published.
mit, east of the village of Ravenna, June 8, 1835. By the middle of August the survey was completed, and on the 17th and 18th of that month contracts were let for the portion of the canal west of Ravenna, but the western terminus being afterward changed to run by Cuyahoga Falls, the contracts for the whole western division, extending from the east line of Portage (bounty to Akron, were re-let November 16, 1835. The several secfiious of the eastern division of the canal, extending fi-om the east line of Portage County to near Newcastle, Penn. , were put under contract August 10, September 21, and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
mii, east of the village of Ravenna, June 8, 1835. By the middle of Augast the aurreT was completed, and on the 17th and 18th of that month oontracta vera let for the portion of the oanal west of Ravenna, but the weBtern terminus boing afterward changed to run by Cuyahoga Falls, tho contractB for the whole western diviaion, extending from the eaat line of Portage County to Akron, were re-let November 16, 1835. The several sections of the eastern diTision of tbe oanal, nimdiing from tho east lino of Portage Oonnty to near KoWflaatle, Penn., were put under contract August 10, September 21, and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
and after rough riding, reached Cleveland City, as the natives called it, though its population was the mere handful of a hundred or two. After halting here for a short time, the youi% doctor resumed his journey, and in the month of Jiine» 1815, drew rein upon his steed in the village of Ravenna, having then ridden over 1,000 miles. His borne, in swimming Grand Biver, at Painesville, took cold, and upon arriving at Ravenna was too sick to proceed farther.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Beebe, of the Ravenna Relief Committee, having procured in Ravenna a sufficient number of blankets to give one to each man in the Tyler Guards and Ravenna Light Artillery, took them to Camp Taylor for the buys of those commands. Three trunks filled with flannel shirts, lint and bandages, made by the women of Ravenna, at the Town Hall, on Saturday and Sunday following the departure of the volunteers, were also forwarded to Camp Taylor.
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 hereWilliam R. Day is born here
In the archivePortage County, Ohio School Certificate
Born hereAnna Althea Hills is born here
In the archiveThe John F. Byers Mach. Co., Ravenna, Ohio, Mfgrs of Geared Locomotives, Hoisting Engines…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveRavenna, Ohio. Cleveland Worsted Mills Co. Stack 175 Feet High - DPLA - 4abfd85bc7abd3ca9…
Born hereChris Bangle is born here3 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1900s. 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 Ravenna’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 306 and 12,069 people in every census since 1830.
18 censuses, 1830–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ravenna’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Ravenna’s post office has been open since 1805.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
In 1799, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Ravenna’s post office opened in 1805, and the census of 1830 counted 306 people here.
Ravenna is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #87 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.
11 listings: 10 buildings, among them the Riddle Block (listed 1976, the first), and 1 historic district, the East Main Street Historic District, with 50 contributing buildings. 61 historic buildings in all.
28% of Ravenna’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1960.
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 (11), Wikipedia, 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
1859
c. 1907
1908
