Founding year: the first Roseville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Roseville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Roseville is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Roseville’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 Roseville’s 43.9 sits above most of its state (87% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.5 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 Roseville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Roseville was laid out in 1812 by Ezekiel Rose. It was initially named New Milford, but the name had been changed to Roseville by the time a post office was applied for in 1830. By 1833, Roseville had a gristmill and saw mill. Roseville was incorporated in 1840, with Dr. James Little elected as the first mayor.
Roseville is located in the "clay belt of Ohio" and has an extensive history of ceramic manufacturing:
The Roseville Pottery Company was founded in 1890 by J.F. Weaver and initially focused on producing practical and functional stoneware pottery. The company headquarters were relocated to Zanesville, Ohio, in 1898.
Passages that mention Roseville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
1883 history perry county, ohio1883 · page 194Read the page →
Read the text
Roseville is situated chiefly on the Muskingum county side, but the railway station, several churches, a number of potteries, and twenty or thirty private dwellings are on the Perry side, in Harrison township.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
1883 history perry county, ohio1883 · page 192Read the page →
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the county line, came in 1799 or 1800, and built a cabin on the Perry county side, residing there for a number of years before settling on the Muskingum side. Clark, afterward, was a State Senator, Justice of the Peace, and kepta tavern at Roseville, (then called Milford,) at an early day. The Wliffs, Brumages, Burleys, Dusenberries. Roses. Holcombs, Dennis’, Hightshces and Hitchcocks were among the first settlers. The’ following named _ persons were living in the township as early as 1816 or 1817: John Ihiff, William Iliff, John Dusenberry, John
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
Roseville, 1828 to 1968
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 Roseville post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Roseville rank for history?
Roseville is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns. 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 Roseville?
6 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Roseville High School (listed 1978, the first). 8 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Roseville?
43% of Roseville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1954.
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 (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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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