Strongsville dates to 1818, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 55% of U.S. towns · #590 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of Strongsville was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1930.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1820.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Strongsville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Strongsville is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #590 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 Strongsville’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 Strongsville’s 0.9 sits near the middle of its state (48% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% 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 (±1.2 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1818.
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 →
What stands out about Strongsville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Founded by settlers arriving in the newly purchased Connecticut Western Reserve, the city was named after John Stoughton Strong, the group's leader. He brought his oldest son, Emory Strong, his brother-in-law Elijah Lyman Sr., and Guilford Whitney, another relative of the Strongs. Along with Whitney came his daughter, her husband John Hilliard, and their daughter. Other pioneers in the group included William Fuller Jr., Obadiah Church, Zachariah Goodale, and George Fox Gilbert. They arrived in 1816 and cleared enough land to construct log cabins. The 25-square-mile area of land was surveyed and divided into lots for John Stoughton Strong to sell off by agreement with Oliver Ellsworth of Hartford, Connecticut. Strongsville officially became Township No. 5, 14th range on February 25, 1818. Strongsville became a village in 1923 and was ultimately designated a city in 1961.
Strongsville was settled in ISKJ iind organized in 1818. The first pioneers located in Orange in 1815 or '16, and an organization was effected in 1820. Solon was settled in the latter year. Bedford was settled in 1813. and Warrensville in ISIO. Brecksville had first Ijeen occupied in ISHi and Independence about the same time. Middlcburg was also settled before the war. The pioneers of all these townships, as well as
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Cuyahoga County, Ohio. With portraits and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers1879 · page 473Read the page →
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from the corner of Columbia northeast to the old bridge on the site of the iron bridge at Berea, and thence easterly to the main road from Cleveland to Strongsville. A company had just begun making a turnpike of this last-named road. It was completed the next year, and used as a turnpike over thirty years. The other roads are described as being then only mud-paths, pai-tly cleared of timber, in which a
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History of Cuyahoga County, Ohio ..1879 · page 537Read the page →
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The first years of his residence in Strongsville were spent in hel[)ing to clear up his father's farm, and to make it a comfortable home. In addition to his farming he after a while engaged in the mercantile business at Strongsville Center, in partnership with Mr.
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History of Cuyahoga County, Ohio. With portraits and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers1879 · page 50Read the page →
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year, (1811,) the western boundary of the county, which as defined by the act creating it was the same as the western boundary of the present townships of Strongsville, Middleburg and Rockport, was carried from ten to fifteen miles farther west. Beginning at the southwest corner of the present township of Eaton, Lorain county, (township five, range sixteen,) the new line ran thence north to the north-
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
Strongsville, 1818 to 1992
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1818, according to Wikidata. Strongsville’s post office opened in 1820, and the census of 1930 counted 1,349 people here.
How does Strongsville rank for history?
Strongsville is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #590 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 Strongsville?
4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Alanson Pomeroy House (listed 1975, the first).
How old are the homes in Strongsville?
3% of Strongsville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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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