Founding year: the first Richwood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Richwood’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Richwood is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #374 of 993 in Ohio. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Richwood’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 Richwood’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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Richwood’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
Union County was organized on January 10, 1820, from territory previously contained in Franklin, Madison, Logan and Delaware Counties. Claibourne Township was surveyed by Richard Claiborne in 1811. The first settler in Claiborne Township was Cyprian Lee, who with Henry Swartz took the contract to build the township's first road in 1825. The 15 feet (4.6 m) wide road was cut from the southernmost to the northernmost lines of the township, the effort consisting of clearing underbrush and small trees, leaving 'many obstacles in the shape of large timber.' This north to south road passed through what would become Richwood.
in partnership a farm adjoining Richwood. They operated this farm together for three years, at the end of which time Morgan sold his share in the farm to his brother and bought a farm of fifty acres east of Richwood.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Union County, Ohio1915 · page IOI5Read the page →
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until 1883. He then went to Maynard, Ohio, where he operated a mining store for eight years and a half. In 1890 Mr. Wilkins formed a partnership with Col. A. B. Robinson and James W. Robinson, and this firm opened a general store in Richwood under the firm name of Robinson & Wilkins. In 1896 the firm was incorporated under the name of the Robinson & Wilkins Company, and the firm still conducts a prosperous business in Richwood.
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The History of Union County, Ohio, containing a history of the county1883 · page 626Read the page →
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wilderness. His habits were studious, and though denied the privilege of any other school advantages, except one term in Granville College, than such as were aflForded in three or four months school in winter, he had advanced far enough to teach school at the age of sixteen. This he did successfully in the village of Richwood, in the winter of 1838-39. He afterward taught a select school in Marysville, in the basement of the old Presbyterian Church, and taught at different points in Muskingum County. The object was to supply himself with means for the prosecution of studies in the medical profession. He commenced the study of this profession, under Dr. Bealrnear, in the village of Irville, Muskingum County, and continued it under the instructions of
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The History of Union County, Ohio, containing a history of the county1883 · page 420Read the page →
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March, 1880, it was consolidated with companies bearing similar names in the States of New York and Pennsylvania, and the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad Company now owns and operates the line. The stations on this road in Union County are Woodland, Richwood, Claibounie, Broadway, Peoria and Pottersburg. Length of road in county, main track, 23.909 miles; sidings, etc., 4.525 miles; total, 28.434 miles. About 165 miles of the road owned by this company in Ohio are laid with steel rails. It was formerly abroad gauge line, but has been reduced to a standard gauge. It has more miles of track in Union County than,
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
Richwood, 1833 to 1966
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.
The Richwood post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Richwood rank for history?
Richwood is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #374 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.
How old are the homes in Richwood?
40% of Richwood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.5 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1953.
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), 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.
1966
1966
1966
1966
2004