Granville lands at No. 4 on USA TODAY’s 10Best Readers’ Choice list of small college towns

Granville has been named one of the best small college towns in the country by USA TODAY’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. The Licking County village landed at No. 4 on the list of 10 towns beating out Charlottesville, Virginia, and Annapolis, Maryland, among others.

The USA TODAY 10Best polls regularly survey people on their favorites in every category from museums to restaurants and summer festivals. An expert panel selected the college towns, and readers voted for the best.

Granville has been home to Denison University since the university was founded in 1831 as the Granville Literary and Theological Institution. It soon took the name Granville College and was renamed in the mid-1850s as Denison University in honor of a key benefactor, according to the university.

Denison was founded just a few short years after the village of Granville was settled in 1805 by a group of settlers from Granville, Massachusetts, and Granby, Connecticut, who meticulously planned a public square, school, library, burying ground and church properties before heading west, according to the village.

The list highlights Granville’s gentle hills, charming Greek Revival buildings and cozy pubs and cafés as reasons visitors should check out the village.

Granville wasn’t the only Ohio college town to make the list. Athens, home to Ohio University, came in at No. 5 and Oxford, where Miami University is located, landed at No. 2.

2024 USA TODAY 10Best Small College Towns

1. Oxford, Mississippi

2. Oxford, Ohio

3. Frostburg, Maryland

4. Granville, Ohio

5. Athens, Ohio

6. Annapolis, Maryland

7. Hanover, New Hampshire

8. Williamsburg, Virginia

9. Charlottesville, Virginia

10. Saratoga Springs, New York

mdevito@gannett.com

740-607-2175

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Licking County’s Granville among USA TODAY 10Best small college towns