Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1864.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Valley View’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Valley View is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Valley View’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 Valley View’s 51.9 sits above most of its state (89% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 10 listings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1919.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B+. The pre-1940 share (±2.9 points) is firm at this size.
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 Valley View’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Valley View was incorporated as a village in 1919 after it broke away from Independence, Ohio, after an argument over the location of the schools.
In 2013, a scandal involving the laundering of campaign funding resulted in resignation of Mayor Randall Westfall. In 2014, he was sentenced to eighteen months probation and thirty days in jail after pleading guilty to corruption charges.
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 1919, according to Wikidata. Valley View’s post office opened in 1864.
How does Valley View rank for history?
Valley View is more historic than 42% 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.
What is on the National Register in Valley View?
10 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Stephen Frazee House (listed 1976, the first), 1 historic district, the Edmund Gleason Farm,, and 3 structures.
How old are the homes in Valley View?
8% of Valley View’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.9 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (3), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (10), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1975
1975
