Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 35% of U.S. towns · #109 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Heye H. and Eva Meyer Farmstead. Most of Barberton was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2005. Below: maps from 1897 on and the census since 2000.
More historic than 35% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Barberton is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #109 of 285 in Washington. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Few Washington towns list much on the Register (a typical Washington town has 0.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Barberton’s 8.1 sits above most of its state (82% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Barberton’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Barberton. 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 Barberton.
From Wikipedia’s history of Barberton.
It was founded by 19th century pioneers, mostly from Ireland, who cut the forest down to clear land for farming. It was originally called St. John’s, after a church built in 1868 of the same name. According to historical accounts, Barberton was named after a man named Barber, who was the first postmaster of Barberton.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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.
Between 4,617 and 8,567 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Barberton’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Barberton itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Barberton is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #109 of 285 in Washington. 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 Heye H. and Eva Meyer Farmstead (listed 2015).
0.0% of Barberton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 2005.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
