Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1874.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Willard’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Willard is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #835 of 993 in Ohio. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Willard’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 Willard’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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.6 points). Two sources give 1917.
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 Willard’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The original name of Willard was Chicago, named for the junction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's line to Sandusky (the Sandusky, Mansfield and Newark Railroad) and the branch west to Chicago (the Baltimore and Ohio and Chicago Railroad). Later the Akron and Chicago Junction Railroad was built east from the junction, providing a more direct route between the Northeastern United States and Chicago.
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 1917, according to Wikidata. Willard’s post office opened in 1874, and the census of 1880 counted 662 people here.
How does Willard rank for history?
Willard is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #835 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.
How old are the homes in Willard?
27% of Willard’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1960.
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 (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
