Photo: Nyttend · Public domain

History · Wintersville

Wintersville’s post office opened in 1831

More historic than 47% of U.S. towns · #685 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it

Most of Wintersville was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Below: maps from 1904 on and the census since 1850.

1831first post office

0on the National Register

10%homes built before 1940

2famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

Photo: Nyttend · Public domain

Quick answers

How Wintersville began

When was Wintersville founded?

1831

The Wintersville post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 121 in 18502020 census: 3,765195 years

How historic is Wintersville?

B⁻

More historic than 47% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Wintersville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Wintersville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wintersville is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #685 of 993 in Ohio. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B⁻

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Wintersville’s overall grade.

Founding era1831, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA⁻Homes built before 19409.7% of homes (±6.8) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%B⁻National RegisterNo listings counted · typical OH town 2.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 47%

NewerOlder

Ohio towns of 2,500+ (993)Ahead of 31%

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 Wintersville’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 C to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 →

What stands out about Wintersville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Wintersville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19043 editions of the USGS map, 1904 to 1942. Watch Wintersville change.Deep rootsA post office since 1831: 195 years of Wintersville.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Wintersville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Wintersville’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

On the map

Wintersville on the map, 1904 to 1942

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Wintersville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1904Steubenville sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Wintersville.

Timeline

Wintersville, 1831 to 1986

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

19th century
1831Post officeThe Wintersville post office opens
20th century
1901Post officeThe Wintersville post office closes
1904On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1932Born hereJ. D. Jones is born here
1986Born hereRon Ferguson is born here

The story

How Wintersville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Wintersville.

Read it all →

The first settlement at Wintersville was made in 1831. The village was named for its founder, John Winters. A post office was established at Wintersville in 1831, and remained in operation until 1901.

Confederate general John Hunt Morgan traveled through Wintersville during the 1863 Morgan's Raid on his way to defeat at the Battle of Salineville in the American Civil War.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Wintersville, decade by decade

Today5 recent

Map of Jefferson County Ohio Highlighting Wintersville Village

2015Map of Jefferson County Ohio Highlighting Wintersvill…Map

2012NAPA

2007State Route 43 in

2007Dairy Queen

2004OHMap-doton-Wintersville

People over time

Wintersville, census by census

Between 113 and 4,921 people in every census since 1850.

11 censuses, 1850–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Wintersville’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Wintersville

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

J. D. JonesAmerican ammunition designer · b. 1932

Ron FergusonAmerican politician · b. 1986

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Wintersville had its own post office from 1831 to 1901.

Wintersville

1831–1901

18301930today

Hamlets and corners on the map

BeechwoodWinterdale

Gone or out of use

Wiintersville Post Officepost office

2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Wintersville

Fort Steuben Burial EstatesWintersville Methodist

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Cross Creek Township1 historic placeC⁺Steubenville9 historic placesA Island Creek Township3 historic placesA⁻

Questions about Wintersville’s history

What year was Wintersville founded?

The Wintersville post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Wintersville rank for history?

Wintersville is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #685 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 Wintersville?

10% of Wintersville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.8 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1970.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (5), 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) 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.

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