Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
St. Clairsville Historic District · Photo: Bwsmith84 · CC BY 3.0More historic than 88% of U.S. towns · #187 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 63 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1810.
St. Clairsville dates its founding to 1790 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1810.
More historic than 88% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, St. Clairsville is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #187 of 993 in Ohio. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings 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 St. Clairsville’s 126 sits above most of its state (94% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 63 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of St. Clairsville. 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 St. Clairsville.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereIsaac Parrish is born here
Born hereGeorge W. Thompson is born here
Born hereCydnor B. Tompkins is born here
Born hereJoseph Gaston is born here
In the archiveBelmont county courthouse 1891
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveBelmont Hills Country Club, St. Clairville, Ohio (78121)From Wikipedia’s history of St. Clairsville.
The seat of justice of Belmont County was originally known as Newellstown, and under the latter name was laid out in the late 1790s by David Newell. The name of the settlement was soon changed to St. Clairsville in honor of Northwest Territory Governor and Revolutionary War Major-General Arthur St. Clair.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention St. Clairsville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
“The petition of a number of the citizens of the town of St. Clairsville and the county of Belmont humbly showeth that they labor under many disadvantages for the want of a seminary of learning in that part of the State in which they reside. They further state to
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
St. Clairsville claims to have erected the second school house in the county in 1802. This was an old-time log cabin built on the Judge
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.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
c. 1930Belmont Hills Country Club, St. Clairville, Ohio (781…Postcard
c. 1930National road on Route 40, east of St. Clairsville, O…Postcard
c. 1930Scott's Motel (85652)Postcard
c. 1930Twin Pines Motel, St. Clairsville, Ohio (82644)Postcard
c. 1930W. W. VA. Transmitter Plant, St, Clairsville, Ohio (7…PostcardNo then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on St. Clairsville’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 431 and 5,452 people in every census since 1810.
22 censuses, 1810–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on St. Clairsville’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
In 1790, according to Wikidata. St. Clairsville’s post office opened in 1801, and the census of 1810 counted 431 people here.
St. Clairsville is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #187 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 St. Clairsville Historic District (listed 1994).
15% of St. Clairsville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1970.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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 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.
