Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Nyttend · Public domainMore historic than 50% of U.S. towns · #653 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1935 on, and the census since 1880.
Waterville Township dates its founding to 1830 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 50% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Waterville Township is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #653 of 993 in Ohio. Its age 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 Waterville Township’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: 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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveRoche de Boeuf, Waterville, Ohio (approximately 1879) - DPLA - b7ff417ccea6653bb4f77c2b64…
In the archiveBoat on the Miami and Erie Canal, Waterville, Ohio (approximately 1880) - DPLA - 85a7a295…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Waterville Township.
Waterville was platted in 1830 by settler John Pray on the west bank of the upper Maumee River opposite what was then known as Pray's Falls, a rapids on that stream. A post office called Waterville has been in operation since 1828.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Waterville Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The first bridge crossing the Maumee within Waterville Township was at the site ol' the old Ferry, near Pray's Falls, and was built jointly b}' Wood and Lucas Counties in 1874. It was a wooden truss, costing $22,000, and was replaced in the Spring of 1888 by the Smith Bridge Co., with an elegant iron bridge, at a cost of over $30,000.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Samuel R. Reed, now of Cincinnati, was then Clerk of Waterville Township, and was soon succeeded by J. E. Hall, j'et ol Waterville. In 1848, J. B, Hall was allowed $6.00 in full for one year's services as Clerk and stationery.
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.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1879Roche de Boeuf, Waterville, Ohio (approximately 1879)…1880Boat on the Miami and Erie Canal, Waterville, Ohio (a…
1880Miami and Erie Canal, Waterville, Ohio (approximately…
1880Turkey Foot Rock, Waterville, Ohio (approximately 188…
1880Turkey Foot Rock, Waterville, Ohio (approximately 188…
1888Miami and Erie Canal, Waterville, Ohio, 1888 - DPLA -…Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Waterville Township. 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 Waterville Township.
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 Waterville Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 382 people in 1880 to 6,003 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Waterville Township’s Wikipedia page.
Another post office, Neowash, 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).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1830, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Waterville Township’s post office opened in 1856, and the census of 1880 counted 382 people here.
Waterville Township is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #653 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.
12% of Waterville Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1990.
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, 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.
