The Stow post office opened in 1804, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Metz (1886) and Darrowville (1889), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 12,194 in 19602020 census: 34,483222 years
How historic is Stow?
B
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Stow post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Stow’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Stow is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #535 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 Stow’s overall grade.
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 Stow’s 1.5 sits near the middle of its state (51% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% 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 (±1.7 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 Stow’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Stow is named for Joshua Stow, its original proprietor. Joshua Stow was a member of the party led by Moses Cleaveland to survey the lands of the Connecticut Western Reserve around present-day Cleveland in 1796. He was a native of Middletown, Connecticut, however, and never lived in Stow, though he spent both time and money developing the township and is quoted as saying it was "one of the prettiest and most romantic spots in the Western Reserve." The land that would eventually be known as Stow Township was the survey township "Town 3, Range 10" of the Western Reserve and was initially 25 square miles (65 km2). It was purchased by Joshua Stow for $14,154. Prior to the arrival of European settlers, the area around what is now Stow was inhabited by a tribe of Seneca Native Americans at a small settlement in the area that is now part of the neighboring village of Silver Lake.
Passages that mention Stow, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio1881 · page 490Read the page →
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Henry Wetmore, " Brother William and I came to what is now the village of Cuyahoga Falls from the banks of Silver Lake, in the township of Stow. We cut away the alders on the bank of the river, where Israel James' flouring-mill was afterward erected, to take a look at the river, and the wild scenery on each side. The next day Father came to line out the 210 acres
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio1881 · page 223Read the page →
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an average of about two miles square, being taken from the northeast corner of Portage, the northwest corner of Tallmadge, the southwest corner of Stow and the southeast corner of Northampton Townships, the incorporated village of Cuyahoga Falls also occupying a portion of said territor}'.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Summit County, Ohio1881 · page 512Read the page →
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Ah = ® thence into Hudson, thence into the northern part of Stow, thence again into Hudson, where it unites with Mud Brook. The latter stream flows across the northwest corner of Stow, entering Turtle Lake on the northeast side. It flows from this lake first into Northampton.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Summit County, Ohio1881 · page 468Read the page →
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It was subsequently re-surveyed. platted and recorded by Birdsey Booth. It was located in the townships of Stow and Tallmadge, and included all of the present platted village except so much line. The part last mentioned was platted and recorded by R. A. Ashman. County Surveyor.
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.
Timeline
Stow, 1804 to 1993
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Stow post office opened in 1804, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Stow rank for history?
Stow is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #535 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 Stow?
One place: the Stewart-Hanson Farm (listed 1992).
How old are the homes in Stow?
5% of Stow’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1979.
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.
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