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History · Rayland

Rayland’s post office opened in 1905, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Stringer Stone House.

1905first post office
1on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Rayland began

When was Rayland founded?

1905

The Rayland post office opened in 1905, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Portland Station (1871), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 395121 years
Founding year: the first Rayland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Rayland’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Rayland are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Rayland’s homes were built before 1954.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Rayland’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Rayland’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Rayland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Rayland.

Read it all →

Rayland was originally called Portland Station. A post office called Portland Station was established in 1871 giving the village its name. The village name was changed to Rayland in 1928. Rayland incorporated as a village in 1938. Rayland was once of the largest port towns on the river during its heyday as Portland Station.

The Stringer Stone House, also known as the John B. Bayless House, was a historic stone mansion located at 224 Warren Avenue in Rayland, Ohio. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 10, 1974. It was destroyed by fire in 1982.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Rayland, 1867 to 1905

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1867Post officeThe Yorkville post office opens
  3. 1871Post officeThe Portland Station post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1905Post officeThe Portland Station post office closes
  6. 1905Post officeThe Rayland post office opens
By decade

Rayland, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Rayland Welcome Sign2016Rayland Welcome SignRayland Main Street South2016Rayland Main Street SouthMain from Warren2015Main from WarrenMap of Jefferson County Ohio Highlighting Rayland Village2015Map of Jefferson County Ohio Highlighting Rayland Vil…MapStringer Stone House site2012Stringer Stone House siteOHMap-doton-Rayland2004OHMap-doton-Rayland
On the National Register

1 historic place in Rayland

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1974
Stringer Stone House
Stringer Stone House
Buildings
Stringer Stone HouseBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Rayland

Nobody well known was born in Rayland itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
John HavlicekAmerican basketball player · b. 1940
John CorbettAmerican actor and country music singer · b. 1961
Rob GarrisonAmerican actor · b. 1960
William Dean HowellsAmerican author, critic, and playwright · b. 1837
Glenn DavisAmerican track athlete and football player · b. 1934
Billy CoxAmerican musician · b. 1941
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Rayland’s post office has been open since 1905. Another post office, Portland Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Yorkville
1867–today
Portland Station
1871–1905
Rayland
1905–today
18601940today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Warren Township1 historic placeA−TiltonsvilleIts storyB+

Questions about Rayland’s history

What year was Rayland founded?

The Rayland post office opened in 1905, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Rayland?

One place: the Stringer Stone House (listed 1974).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.