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BHistory
History · Sunbury

Sunbury’s post office opened in 1817, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #536 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it

Most of Sunbury was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2005. Its Register listing is the Sunbury Town Hall. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1955 on, and the census since 1850.

1817first post office
1on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Sunbury’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Sunbury began

When was Sunbury founded?

1817

The Sunbury post office opened in 1817, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 337 in 18502020 census: 6,614209 years

How historic is Sunbury?

B

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Sunbury post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Sunbury’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sunbury is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #536 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 Sunbury’s overall grade.
Founding era1817, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19408.0% of homes (±2.8) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register1 listing, 1.2 per 10,000 residents · typical OH town 2.9 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 60%
NewerOlder
Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 46%

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 Sunbury’s 1.2 sits near the middle of its state (50% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±2.8 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 Sunbury’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1817: 209 years of Sunbury.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sunbury’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sunbury’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewTown Hall, Sunbury, O: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Sunbury, 1817 to 1955

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1817Post officeThe Sunbury post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1910In the archiveTown Hall, Sunbury, O
  5. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story so far

Sunbury, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Sunbury yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Sunbury is a city in Delaware County, Ohio, United States. The population was 6,614 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area. Sunbury went from being a village to a city on October 22, 2021.

Its first post office opened in 1817. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 4,389 to 6,614 (+51%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Sunbury, 1880–1908

Passages that mention Sunbury, cut from the printed page as they were published.

present village of Galena, and erected a sawmill. About 1810, Nicholas Manville built a grist-mill about half a mile southeast of the present village of Sunbury, and in 1815 he built a sawmill in connection with it. In 1818, Benjamin Carpenter, Jr., built a race between the two Walnut Creeks a litt…
20th century history of Delaware County, Ohio1908 · page 132Read the page →
Read the text

present village of Galena, and erected a sawmill. About 1810, Nicholas Manville built a grist-mill about half a mile southeast of the present village of Sunbury, and in 1815 he built a sawmill in connection with it. In 1818, Benjamin Carpenter, Jr., built a race between the two Walnut Creeks a little south of Gilbert Carpenter, Sr.'s race, and erected a grist-mill.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
in operation within the limits of Berkshire Township. A grist-mill had been built, about 1810, by Nicholas Manville, half a mile southeast of the present village of Sunbury, and, five years later, he added a saw-mill, and, a few years later, added a "still." It passed into the hands of Maj.
History of Delaware County and Ohio. Containing a brief history of the State of Ohio ... biographical sketches ... etc1880 · page 436Read the page →
Read the text

in operation within the limits of Berkshire Township. A grist-mill had been built, about 1810, by Nicholas Manville, half a mile southeast of the present village of Sunbury, and, five years later, he added a saw-mill, and, a few years later, added a "still." It passed into the hands of Maj.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
in operation within the limits of Berkshire Township. A grist-mill had been built, about 1810, by Nicholas Manville, half a mile southeast of the present village of Sunbury, and, five years later, he added a saw-mill, and, a few years later, added a “still.” It passed into the hands of Maj.
history of delaware county and ohio1880 · page 436Read the page →
Read the text

in operation within the limits of Berkshire Township. A grist-mill had been built, about 1810, by Nicholas Manville, half a mile southeast of the present village of Sunbury, and, five years later, he added a saw-mill, and, a few years later, added a “still.” It passed into the hands of Maj.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
States Military Lands. The western half of the township was included in the original township of Berkshire, and the eastern half was in the township of Sunbury. When Harlem Township was cut out of Sunbury, it included all of what is now Genoa Township.
20th century history of Delaware County, Ohio1908 · page 452Read the page →
Read the text

States Military Lands. The western half of the township was included in the original township of Berkshire, and the eastern half was in the township of Sunbury. When Harlem Township was cut out of Sunbury, it included all of what is now Genoa 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.

By decade

Sunbury, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s2 items
Town Hall, Sunbury, O1910Town Hall, Sunbury, OPostcardTown Hall, Sunbury, O1910Town Hall, Sunbury, OPostcard
1920s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Sunbury Admin Building 12018Sunbury Admin Building 1Old Sunbury Courthouse2018Old Sunbury CourthouseBig Walnut School District Administrative Office HQ 12018Big Walnut School District Administrative Office HQ 1Sunbury Tavern2011Sunbury Tavern
On the map

Sunbury on the map, 1955 to 1973

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sunbury. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Sunbury on the 1955 USGS mapSunbury on the 1967 USGS mapSunbury on the 1973 USGS map1955Sunbury sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Sunbury.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Town Hall, Sunbury, O
Retake this viewTown Hall, Sunbury, O, 1910

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Sunbury’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Sunbury

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
Sunbury Town Hall
Sunbury Town Hall
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Italianate1
Sunbury Town HallItalianate

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Sunbury, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,5007,00018501900195020006,614

Grew from 337 people in 1850 to 6,614 in 2020, more than tenfold.

17 censuses, 1850–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Sunbury’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Sunbury’s post office has been open since 1817.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Sunbury EstatesSunbury Meadows
Gone or out of use
Sunbury Instituteschool
1cemetery inside Sunbury
Sunbury Memorial Park

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Berkshire TownshipIts storyC+Trenton Township1 historic placeB+GalenaIts storyB

Questions about Sunbury’s history

What year was Sunbury founded?

The Sunbury post office opened in 1817, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Sunbury rank for history?

Sunbury is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #536 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 Sunbury?

One place: the Sunbury Town Hall (listed 1975).

How old are the homes in Sunbury?

8% of Sunbury’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.8 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 2005.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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), 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.