Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns · #392 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Lucius T. Tambling House and the ASM Headquarters and Geodesic Dome. Its Register listings are the Lucius T. Tambling House and the ASM Headquarters and Geodesic Dome. Below: maps from 1906 on.
The Russell Township post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Russell (1828), Fullertown (1879) and Taylor (1889), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Russell Township is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #392 of 993 in Ohio. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 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 Russell Township’s 3.7 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Russell Township’s history is told.
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Russell Township. 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 Russell Township.
From Wikipedia’s history of Russell Township.
A variant name was Russell. A post office called Russell was established in 1828, and remained in operation until 1881. Ebenezer Russell served as first postmaster.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
BuiltASM Headquarters and Geodesic Dome is builtWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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.
Nobody well known was born in Russell Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Russell Township post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Russell Township is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #392 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.
Two places: the Lucius T. Tambling House (listed 1984) and the ASM Headquarters and Geodesic Dome (2009).
14% of Russell Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.0 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1967.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
