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AHistory
History · Angola

Angola’s post office opened in 1838, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns · #174 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it

4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 49 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1850.

1838first post office
4on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
6famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Angola’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Angola began

When was Angola founded?

1838

The Angola post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 226 in 18502020 census: 9,340188 years

How historic is Angola?

A

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Angola post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Angola’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Angola is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #174 of 593 in Indiana. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Angola’s overall grade.
Founding era1838, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194018.2% of homes (±4.4) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register4 listings, 53 historic buildings, 56.3 per 10,000 residents · typical IN town 7.9 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 87%
NewerOlder
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 71%

Indiana towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Indiana town has 7.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Angola’s 56.3 sits above most of its state (76% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 53 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). 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 →

What stands out about Angola’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Angola Commercial Historic District takes in 49 historic buildings.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1886 to 1914, drew every building in Angola.Deep rootsA post office since 1838: 188 years of Angola.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Angola’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Angola’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1950 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

4 listings protect 53 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
53
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
Steuben County Courthouse
Steuben County CourthouseSteuben County Jail, built 1877Angola Commercial Historic DistrictCyrus and Jennie Cline House
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Italianate2
Romanesque2
Greek Revival1
Late Victorian1
Beaux Arts1
Classical Revival1
Steuben County CourthouseGreek Revival
Steuben County JailBuilt 1877
Angola Commercial Historic DistrictLate Victorian
All 4 listings
Cyrus and Jennie Cline HouseBuilding · listed 2017

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Every building

Angola, building by building, 1886–1914

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Angola fire insurance map, 1886, sheet 11886Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Angola came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Angola.

Read it all →

Angola was founded in 1838 as the seat of Steuben County; the Angola post office has been in operation since the same year. Angola was officially incorporated as a town on October 1, 1866, and became a city in 1906.

Some of the first settlers came from Angola, New York, and they named their new home after their old one.

The Angola Commercial Historic District, Steuben County Courthouse, and Steuben County Jail are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Angola, 1838 to 1957

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1838Post officeThe Angola post office opens
  3. 1873Born hereLois Irene Kimsey is born here
  4. 1877BuiltSteuben County Jail is built
  5. 1880In the archive1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Indiana (IN) - Steuben County - Angola - ED 76-11…
  6. 1899Born hereFrancis Dodd is born here
  7. 20th century
  8. 1930In the archivePublic library, Angola, Indiana (75552)
  9. 1937Born hereHagood Hardy is born here
  10. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1957Born hereJohn Barnes is born here
By decade

Angola, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Indiana (IN) - Steuben County - Angola - ED 76-11 to 1718801950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Indiana (IN) …
1890s–1920snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1930s1 item
Public library, Angola, Indiana (75552)c. 1930Public library, Angola, Indiana (75552)
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today10 recent
These classical figures at the T. Furth Center for the Performing Arts at John Trine University2016These classical figures at the T. Furth Center for th…A monument commemorating the United States Civil War of the 1860s was designed by E.M. Heltzer and dedicated in 19172016A monument commemorating the United States Civil War …A motorcyclist enters the Steuben County Courthouse square2016A motorcyclist enters the Steuben County Courthouse s…General Lewis Blaine Hershey2015General Lewis Blaine HersheyUntitled photo2015Untitled photoAngola, Indiana and Pokagon State Park2012Angola, Indiana and Pokagon State ParkAngola, Indiana2012Angola, Indiana2010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map for20102010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map forBookLkJames-AIR looking NNW 46372009LkJames-AIR looking NNW 4637INMap-doton-Angola2007INMap-doton-Angola
On the map

Angola on the map in 1953

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Angola.

Angola on the 1953 USGS map1953Fort Wayne sheet · 1:250,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Angola.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Indiana (IN) - Steuben County - Angola - ED 76-11 to 17
Retake this view1950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Indiana (IN) - Steuben County - Angola - ED 76-11 to 17, 1880

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Angola’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Angola, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00018501900195020009,340

Grew from 226 people in 1850 to 9,340 in 2020, more than tenfold.

17 censuses, 1850–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Angola’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

6 famous people were born in Angola

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
J
John BarnesAmerican science fiction writer · b. 1957
Lois Irene Kimsey28th Second Lady of the United States · b. 1873
H
Hagood HardyCanadian composer · b. 1937
Francis DoddAmerican brigadier general · b. 1899
Henry J. HendrixUnited States Navy Captain · b. 1966
J
J. Walter YeagleyAmerican judge · b. 1909
Places that used to be

Old burying grounds

Angola’s post office has been open since 1838.

4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Angola
Circle HillCrockettOld Circle HillSowles

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Angola’s history

What year was Angola founded?

The Angola post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Angola rank for history?

Angola is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #174 of 593 in Indiana. 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.

What is on the National Register in Angola?

4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Steuben County Courthouse (listed 1975, the first), and 1 historic district, the Angola Commercial Historic District, with 49 contributing buildings. 53 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Angola?

18% of Angola’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.4 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1983.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (9), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.