Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns · #677 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of Union was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Its Register listing is the Krug House. Below: maps from 1905 on and the census since 1880.
Union dates its founding to 1806 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Union is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #677 of 993 in Ohio. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls 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 Union’s 1.4 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.
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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how Union’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Union. 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 Union.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWikipedia doesn’t have a history of Union yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Union is a city in Montgomery and Miami counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 6,859 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Dayton metropolitan area.
Union was established in 1806. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 6,419 to 6,859 (+7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Union, cut from the printed page as they were published.
![When Union count}' was organized in i8'JO its three subdi\'isions were the townships of Union, Darby and ]Mill Creek. At a meeting of the board of commissioners of Union count}' on the 12th day of ]\Iarch, 1821, it was "Agreed, that the county of Union be divided into townships as follows: Beginnin…](https://images.townratings.com/story/13615/bk-52ca7b6694d6c6fc-l.jpg)
When Union count}' was organized in i8'JO its three subdi\'isions were the townships of Union, Darby and ]Mill Creek. At a meeting of the board of commissioners of Union count}' on the 12th day of ]\Iarch, 1821, it was "Agreed, that the county of Union be divided into townships as follows: Beginning at the southwest corner of I'nion county, running east five and one-half miles; thence north six miles: thence west three miles; thence north to the north boundary of Union county: all west to be Union township.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
When Union County was organized, in 1820, its three subdivisions were the townships of Union, Darby and Mill Creek. At a meeting of the Board of Commissioners of Union County, on the 12th day of March, 1821, it was ^^ Agreed, That the county of Union be divided into townships as follows: Beginning at the southwest corner of Union County, running east live and onehalf miles; thence north six miles; thence west three miles; thence north to the north boundary of Union County; all west to be Union Township. Second township: Beginning at the southeast corner of Union Township, running
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The sixth township of Union county was Liberty township, wliich was organized, as shown by the records, as follows: "At a meeting of the commissioners of the county of Union, the first Monday in June, 1822, the township of Liberty was organized as follows : Beginning at the southwest corner of Paris township, thence west to the county line, thence north to the north Ijoundary line of said county, thence east to the west boundary of Paris township, thence south with said line to the place of beginning, to be known by the name of Liberty township." When York township was created
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1837, we find published in the Ohio Gazette, at Columbus, the following account of Milford: " A post town of Union County, situated near the center of Union Township, on the south bank of Big Darby Creek, five miles southwest of Marysville, thirty-two miles northwest of Columbus, twenty-two miles southeast of Bellefontaine, nine northeast from Mechanicsburg, eighteen northeast from Urban a, on mail route No. 1,616, carried on horseback once a week from Columbus through this place to Bellefontaine and back. The name of the post office is Milford Center. The town contains thirty dwelling
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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.
Grew from 224 people in 1880 to 6,859 in 2020, more than tenfold.
11 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Union’s Wikipedia page.
Union had its own post office from 1816 to 1963.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1806, according to Wikidata. Union’s post office opened in 1816, and the census of 1880 counted 224 people here.
Union is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #677 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 Krug House (listed 1992).
2% of Union’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 Wikidata (1), 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.
