Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 81% of U.S. towns · #301 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them the Miami And Erie Canal, Deep Cut, a National Historic Landmark. Below: maps from 1911 on and old-book passages.
More historic than 81% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Spencer Township is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns, #301 of 993 in Ohio. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings 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 Spencer Township’s 3.3 sits near the middle of its state (57% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Spencer Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Spencer 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 Spencer Township.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Spencer Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Spencer Township is one of the twelve townships of Allen County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 3,067 people in the township.
Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 3,067 in 2010, 3,067 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Spencer Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Spencerville, in Spencer Township, was platted in 1845-46 by Conover, McConnell and Tyler of Dayton, Ohio, at the time they built their first mill at the lower lock. Hartford, an old settlement in this township, ceased to exist on the establishment of Spencerville. The population of the village in 1880 was 532. At the close of 1884 the estimated number of inhabitants was 800.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Tolson Ford settled in Auglaize Township in 1880. In the history of first industries and again in the history of his township the name is often referred ta The Fulton brothers, pioneer physicians of Spencer Township, settled there at Hartford about 1836 as pioneers of the oouniy. Daniel Garde, a settler of Amanda in 1824, entered a small parcel of land on Section 5, in 1828.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Fulton brothers, pioneer physicians of Spencer Township, settled there at Hartford about 1836 as pioneers of the county. Daniel Garde, a settler of Amanda in 1824, entered a small parcel of land on Section 5, in 1828.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nobody well known was born in Spencer Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, Southworth, 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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Spencer Township is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns, #301 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.
One place: the Miami And Erie Canal, Deep Cut (listed 1966).
29% of Spencer Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1966.
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 Wikimedia Commons (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
★ Landmark
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