Ask anyone and you are bound to get a different answer, and via MyHometownOhio, I found an ePodunk study that claims to name the top small towns in Ohio using the ePodunk Historic Small Town Index.
- Kelleys Island - While South Bass Island and Put-In-Bay draw the party crowd, Kelleys’ is the “grown-up” version with a great collection of historical sites and the glacier grooves.
- Casstown - read more below …
- Zanesville - The “Y-Bridge” is a national landmark and the city is
Reading this, you probably had a similar reaction as Toby, okay with the first and third, but Casstown?
First, where is Casstown? Casstown is located just east of Troy in southwest Ohio and according to City-Data has a population of about 350.
How did they come up with this index?
Our study is restricted to three kinds of geographic areas:
- Counties that are not in metropolitan areas;
- Metropolitan counties with fewer than 100,000 residents; and,
- In the five states that are almost entirely dominated by metropolitan areas (MA, CT, RI, DE, and NJ), places with fewer than 100,000 residents that are outside of large urban or suburban areas.
Okay, sounds good, and then they went on:
- The proportion of all housing units that were built before 1939 (a possible 10 points). Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, http://www.census.gov.
- The number of properties that received a federal tax credit for rehabilitation that respects their historic significance (20 points). Source: Unpublished data from National Parks Service. For a description of the tax credit program, go to http://www.cr.nps.gov/helpyou.htm#tax.
- The number of listings on the National Register of Historic Places, a list of 78,000 buildings, sites, structures, objects, and districts that have national, state, or local significance, according to state and national historic preservation agencies (30 points). Source: http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/index.htm.
- The number of buildings, structures, sites, and objects in National Register Historic Districts, a list of 11,000 clusters of historically significant properties (40 points). Source: http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/index.htm.
I love the concept of what they are doing, but I struggle with their findings. Toby’s a complete history geek — and he’s never heard of Casstown. Look for Toby and I to make ”A Day Away” trip to Casstown to find out what all the hub-bub is all about.
Aireal photo of Kelleys Island is from Put-In-Bay Photos. Go over and purchase their beautiful images of the islands. Postcard of Y-Bridge is from Vintage Views.
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