Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1904 on and the census since 1880.
More historic than 33% 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 33% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 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.
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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Spencer Township.
A post office called Spencer has been in operation since 1849. The village takes its name from Spencer Township.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Spencer Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
indicated in the wells and springs which are found on a narrow belt of land running westwardly, and about eighty rods north of the center road of Spencer Township. The percentage of salt in the water is small, yet it was enough to interfere with the working of a steam boiler, producing saline incrustations upon it. Salt licks are known in the township
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.
Between 159 and 764 people in every census since 1880.
12 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Spencer Township’s Wikipedia page.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
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 33% 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.
13% of Spencer Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1990.
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), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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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