Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 70% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1841 on and old-book passages.
The Thornville post office opened in 1820, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, New Lebanon (1817), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
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, Thornville 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 Thornville’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: 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 →
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 Thornville’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
From Wikipedia’s history of Thornville.
Thornville was originally called Lebanon, and under the latter name was laid out around 1811. A post office called Thornville has been in operation since 1820.
Legend Valley in Thornville is the location of the Lost Lands music festival, hosted by Excision. Since 2021, it has hosted the annual Gathering of the Juggalos.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Thornville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
market, and the two other not distant outlets, the people managed to get along comfortably and make money. There was an every other day mail and hack line between Lancaster and Newark, passing by way of Thornville; so, after these two places obtained railroads, the inhabitants of Thorn could get away without much difficulty, when they wished to make a railroad journey to distant parts of the country. — Previous to the railroad era, they were even better situated, comparatively, for they could reach a through line of stages at Jacksontown, only a
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Towns.—Thornville, first called Lebanon, was laid out by Joseph -McMullen and John The record of the establishment of this town is imperfect, there being no date given, but it was_probably about 1811. The post office could not be called Lebanon on account of the prior claim of Lebanon, Warren county; and when this became known, the name of the town was changed to Thornville. The village grew slowly, but soon had a tavern, church, school-house, blacksmith and other shops, and a dozen or more dwelling houses. It had, accord-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
When the Ohio Canal was built, and the Licking Reservoir, laying in sight of Thornville, presented a fine expanse of water, the thrifty farmers of Thorn township concluded that a boat way should be cut through the feeder, to the head of the lake, that they might be able to ship their grain. This idea resulted in the laying out of the town of Thornport in 1839.
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1840s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No 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 Thornville’s page.
Retake this view · +15Thornville’s post office has been open since 1820. Another post office, New Lebanon, 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).
The Thornville post office opened in 1820, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Thornville 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 Thornville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.6 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1976.
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, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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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