The story
Read it all →How Sheffield Lake came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Sheffield Lake.
Sheffield Lake was incorporated in 1920. The southern part split off as Sheffield Village in the 1930s.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
BHistory
History · Sheffield Lake
Sheffield Lake’s post office opened in 1848, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns · #561 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of Sheffield Lake was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1966. Its Register listing is the 103rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry Association Barracks. Below: maps from 1901 on and the census since 1930.
1848first post office
1on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Sheffield Lake began
When was Sheffield Lake founded?
1848
The Sheffield Lake post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Lakebreeze (1877), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 1,256 in 19302020 census: 8,957178 years
How historic is Sheffield Lake?
B
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Sheffield Lake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Sheffield Lake’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sheffield Lake is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #561 of 993 in Ohio. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Sheffield Lake’s overall grade.
Founding era1848, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19406.7% of homes (±2.5) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register1 listing, 1.1 per 10,000 residents · typical OH town 2.9 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 58%
NewerOlder
Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 44%
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 Sheffield Lake’s 1.1 sits near the middle of its state (50% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share (±2.5 points) is firm at this size. 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 Sheffield Lake’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Sheffield Lake’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sheffield Lake’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Sheffield Lake on the map, 1901 to 1994
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sheffield Lake. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1901Oberlin sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Sheffield Lake.
Timeline
Sheffield Lake, 1848 to 1910
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1848Post officeThe Sheffield Lake post office opens
- 1877Post officeThe Sheffield Lake post office closes
- 1877Post officeThe Lakebreeze post office opens
- 20th century
- 1901Post officeThe Lakebreeze post office closes
- 1901
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1910
Built103rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry Association Barracks is built
By decade
Sheffield Lake, decade by decade
2016
2013
2008
2008On the National Register
1 historic place in Sheffield Lake
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
1978
103rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry Association Barra…
Buildings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Sheffield Lake, census by census
Between 1,099 and 10,484 people in every census since 1930.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Sheffield Lake’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Sheffield Lake
Nobody well known was born in Sheffield Lake itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone
Sheffield Lake had its own post office from 1848 to 1877. Another post office, Lakebreeze, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Sheffield Lake
Lakebreeze
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Lake Breeze
Gone or out of use
Lakebreeze Post Officepost office
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.
Questions about Sheffield Lake’s history
What year was Sheffield Lake founded?
The Sheffield Lake post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Sheffield Lake rank for history?
Sheffield Lake is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #561 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 Sheffield Lake?
One place: the 103rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry Association Barracks (listed 1978).
How old are the homes in Sheffield Lake?
7% of Sheffield Lake’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1966.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via 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.