Ohio Hometown AtlasHometown Atlas

Story · History, schools and government

Ohio's oldest towns

51 towns researched so far, covering 83 of 1,233 Ohio ZIP codes.

Open this topic on the map Local history by ZIP code

Ohio's towns were not settled all at once. The state's first permanent Euro-American settlement, Marietta, was founded in 1788 at the mouth of the Muskingum River; Gallipolis and Cincinnati followed within a few years, and the rest of the state filled in west and north over the next century, township by township, as land offices opened and roads and canals reached further.

This ranks the 25 places on this site with the earliest founding, platting or incorporation date on record, oldest first. The list only includes places whose local history has been researched so far. That work proceeds county by county, starting from Franklin County and moving outward, so a place's absence here means its history has not been reached yet, not that it lacks one.

Across the state

One dot per ZIP code, colored the way the map colors this topic; larger dots are more populous ZIP codes.

Settled before 1800 (39) 1800 to 1814 (29) 1815 to 1829 (8) 1830 to 1849 (3) 1850 to 1879 (1) 1880 or later (3) No data (1,150)

The 25 earliest settled

Earliest first; every ZIP code links to its own page.

  1. Clearcreek TownshipFairfield County · ZIPs 43102, 431541797
  2. ColumbusFranklin County · ZIPs 43002, 43004, 43016, 43054 and 27 more1797
  3. Berne TownshipFairfield County · ZIP 431551798
  4. LancasterFairfield County · ZIP 431301798
  5. PleasantvilleFairfield County · ZIP 431481798
  6. Richland TownshipFairfield County · ZIP 431501798
  7. Rushcreek TownshipFairfield County · ZIP 431071798
  8. HarrisburgFranklin County · ZIP 431261799
  9. GranvilleLicking County · ZIP 430231800
  10. Licking TownshipLicking County · ZIP 430301800
  11. Walnut TownshipFairfield County · ZIP 430461800
  12. Bloom TownshipFairfield County · ZIP 431121801
  13. DelawareDelaware County · ZIP 430151801
  14. DublinFranklin County · ZIP 430171801
  15. PowellDelaware County · ZIP 430651801
  16. Bowling Green TownshipPerry County · ZIP 437211802
  17. NewarkLicking County · ZIP 430551802
  18. ReynoldsburgFranklin County · ZIP 430681802
  19. Grove CityFranklin County · ZIP 431231803
  20. Radnor TownshipDelaware County · ZIP 430661803
  21. WorthingtonFranklin County · ZIP 430851803
  22. PataskalaLicking County · ZIP 430621805
  23. Burlington TownshipLicking County · ZIP 430271806
  24. Genoa TownshipDelaware County · ZIPs 43021, 430821806
  25. JohnstownLicking County · ZIP 430311806

7 places share the last value listed (1806); the 3 shown come first by name.

How this was measured

Colors each ZIP by the year the place most of its residents live in was first settled or platted, and the History card tells that place's story: the Native nations and sites recorded there and in its county, how the town began and got its name, a dated timeline, stories, photographs and the county's own history, with a statewide note on Ohio's peoples, earthworks and treaties. The research runs county by county outward from Franklin County; Sonnet and Opus research agents write one file per municipality and township from Wikipedia, the 1880s county histories on archive.org, Ohio History Connection, National Register listings, Ohio historical markers and local historical societies, and every claim carries the page it came from. Photographs are public domain or Creative Commons, each with its credit and licence. The files load on demand, so the card takes a moment the first time a county is opened.

Each town appears once, with the ZIP codes it covers; a town's year is the earliest of its settlement, platting or incorporation dates on record. Only towns whose local history has been researched carry a year, and the research proceeds county by county from Franklin County outward, so the list grows with every build.

83 of 1,233 ZIP codes have a figure; ZIP codes without one are left off the list, not counted as zero. Ties are broken by ZIP code.

Every ZIP code's own page carries the full detail behind its figure, and the Local history topic page ranks the whole state.

Sources

Local history researched from Wikipedia, the 1880 county histories on archive.org, Ohio History Connection, National Register listings, Ohio historical markers, local historical societies and Wikimedia Commons, one file per municipality and township, loaded on demand; Native American history per county and statewide from the same sources and the nations' own histories.

Ohio History Connection · Internet Archive (county histories) · Wikimedia Commons · Remarkable Ohio (historical markers)

The figures behind this page are open data: the open JSON, CC BY 4.0 for the compilation. Report a correction.

Cite this page as:

Ohio Hometown Atlas (Open Shower Co), "Ohio's oldest towns", https://hometownatlas.openshowerco.com/stories/oldest-towns/, built 2026-09-15, accessed [date].

One figure from it:

Ohio Hometown Atlas (Open Shower Co), "Ohio's oldest towns", https://hometownatlas.openshowerco.com/stories/oldest-towns/, built 2026-09-15, accessed [date]; Local history from Ohio History Connection.

How to cite · Report a correction · Built 2026-09-15