Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 70% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1895 on and the census since 1870.
Spencerville dates its founding to 1844 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1870.
More historic than 70% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Spencerville is more historic than 70% 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 Spencerville’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: Wikipedia (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 Spencerville’s history is told.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1895Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Spencerville. 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 Spencerville.
From Wikipedia’s history of Spencerville.
Spencerville was platted in 1844 when the Miami and Erie Canal was extended to that point. The village was named after William Spencer, a canal planner. An early variant name was Acadia. A post office called Acadia was established in 1854, and the name was changed to Spencerville in 1867.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Spencerville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
permanent settlements made in this division of the ooonty. In 1834 the first land buyers came in. Dr. Campbell who settled in Spencer Township, in 1851, in his reminiscences written in 1880, states that 'the canal was opened for traffic in 1844, that the village of Spencerville was laid out for Tyler, McOonnell and Gonover of Dayton, about 1844-45, when they purchased a tract of 350 acres and built a mill at the upper lock. 1860-1 lower mill was constructed.'' The old village of Hartf<»rd, ceased to exist upon the founding of Spencerville, to which
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
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.
The German Reformed Church was founded at Spencerville some years ago. In 1883 a church building was erected, which was dedicated in 1884. This church is growing fast in membership.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Excelsior Club in Spencerville was organized October 22, 1896, with twenty members and after twenty-four years some of the charter members sustain active relation to it; the programs are of miscellaneous character, interspersed with current events and timely topics. The members seldom fail to bring up their work; the club has affiliated with the Spencerville Civic League, and when war activities were at their height all Spencerville club women went to the Red Cross work rooms. The same is true of club members all over Allen County.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyBetween 364 and 2,288 people in every census since 1870.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Spencerville’s Wikipedia page.
Spencerville’s post office has been open since 1867. Another post office, Acadia, 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).
In 1844, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Spencerville’s post office opened in 1854, and the census of 1870 counted 364 people here.
Spencerville is more historic than 70% 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.
31% of Spencerville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.9 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1963.
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 (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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