Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns · #250 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Williams House. Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 1820.
Williamsburg dates its founding to 1796 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1820.
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Williamsburg is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #250 of 993 in Ohio. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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 Williamsburg’s 3.8 sits near the middle of its state (60% 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 Williamsburg’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Williamsburg. 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 Williamsburg.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereRandolph Sinks Foster is born here
Born hereDion Williams is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Williamsburg.
Williamsburg was founded in 1796 by General William Lytle of the prominent Lytle family of Cincinnati. The village was named after the city of Williamsburg, Virginia. A post office called Williamsburgh was established in 1802, and the name was changed to Williamsburg in 1893.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1900Sheet 1 of 4Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 177 people in 1820 to 2,570 in 2020, more than tenfold.
20 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Williamsburg’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
In 1796, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Williamsburg’s post office opened in 1802, and the census of 1820 counted 177 people here.
Williamsburg is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #250 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 Williams House (listed 2002).
29% of Williamsburg’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.1 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1961.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (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.
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