Richfield Township dates to 1809, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 75% of U.S. towns · #368 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of Richfield Township was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 20 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1903 on, and the census since 1970.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1825.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Richfield Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Richfield Township is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #368 of 993 in Ohio. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Richfield Township’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 Richfield Township’s 40.5 sits above most of its state (87% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 26 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.0 points). Two sources give 1809.
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 Richfield Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Richfield Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1903Akron sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Richfield Township.
On the National Register
4 listings protect 26 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
Richfield was founded in 1809 and incorporated in 1967. The village was named for the richness of their soil.
In 1970, Mayor Kenneth Swan signed an ordinance declaring Richfield Village the first "world city" in the United States.
Richfield was the home of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA from 1974 until 1994 and the Cleveland Barons of the NHL from 1976 to 1978. Both teams played at the Richfield Coliseum.
Richfield Township has for the last fifty years or more been well supplied with medical men, so far at least as numbers are concerned; and from the date of the earliest settlements in the county up to 1840, the surrounding towns to a distance of about eight or ten miles depended upon Richfield doctors.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio1881 · page 316Read the page →
Read the text
Richfield Township has for the last fifty years or more been well supplied with medical men, so far at least as niimbers are concerned ; and fi-om the date of the earliest settlements in the county up to 1840, the sm-roimding towns to a distance of about eight or ten miles depended upon Riclifield doctors.
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.
Timeline
Richfield Township, 1809 to 1903
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1809, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Richfield Township’s post office opened in 1825, and the census of 1970 counted 3,228 people here.
How does Richfield Township rank for history?
Richfield Township is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #368 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 Richfield Township?
4 listings: 2 buildings, among them the James Kirby Mill (listed 1978, the first), and 1 historic district, the Camp Crowell Hilaka Historic District, with 20 contributing buildings. 26 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Richfield Township?
6% of Richfield Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
2018
2016
2015
2006
2004