Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The Williamsport post office opened in 1818, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 65% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Williamsport is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 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 Williamsport’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: the first post office (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 Williamsport’s history is told.
Lost a third of its people between 1870 and 1880, then grew 3-fold.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Williamsport’s Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Williamsport. 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 Williamsport.
From Wikipedia’s history of Williamsport.
In 2022, the village blocked the development of the 400-megawatt Chipmunk Solar project, which would have become one of the largest renewable energy projects in the United States. With the cancellation of the solar power array, the village lost an estimated $3.6 million per year in tax revenue (most of which was intended for public schools).
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Williamsport, cut from the printed page as they were published.
In the 1830’s the completion of the turnpike westward across Pickaway County to Cincinnati, Ohio brought new trade to the creek-side Village of Williamsport, Ohio which had long established grist and sawmills. Williamsport, surrounded by oak barrens and grain fields, was an attractive settlement for a Pennsylvania wagon-maker.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Williamsport INI. E. Church. — At an early period in the life of the settlement, Samuel Parrott, who lived a half mile east of Williamsport, collected a few people of the Methodist faith together and held meetings at his home.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Circuit was detached in 1807. This was the era when competing churches organized the frontier by camp-meetings. The New Light Presbyterians held a large camp-meeting at the Williams Town (Williamsport), Ohio settlement in 1800 at the Christian Cemetery. In 1808 and 1811 two great Methodist camp-meetings were attended by over two thousand people on Deer Creek six miles south of Williamsport, led by Bishop Francis Asbury, founder of the Methodist movement in the United States.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Williamsport M. E. Church.—At an early period in the life of the settlement, Samuel Parrott, whe lived a half mile east of Williamsport, collected a few people of the Methodist faith together and held meetiags at his home.
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.
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 SurveyWilliamsport’s post office has been open since 1818.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Williamsport post office opened in 1818, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Williamsport is more historic than 65% 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.
25% of Williamsport’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.8 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1965.
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.
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