Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns · #3 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 6 old photos and papers and maps from 1903 on.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, York Township is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #3 of 993 in Ohio. All 2 inputs put York Township near the top nationally; its National Register listings ranks highest.
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 York Township’s 512 sits above most of its state (99% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 348 historic buildings outnumber those of 96% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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.
Six other post offices 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).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of York 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 York Township.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of York Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
York Township is one of the fourteen townships of Athens County, Ohio, United States. The 2020 census found 6,852 people in the township.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 7,761 to 6,852 (-12%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Ohio - Athens County - ED 5-35, ED 5-36, …
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveTownship maps of Athens County, Ohio, circa 1940 - DPLA - e7e21162aac7601e425d0ae14503b43…2 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 York Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Nobody well known was born in York Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
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.
York Township is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #3 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.
35% of York Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.5 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1962.
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), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
1850
1940
1947
1947
