Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 53% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1942 on, and the census since 1900.
Ashley dates its founding to 1892 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1900.
More historic than 53% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ashley is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Ashley’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (22% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 →
From Wikipedia’s history of Ashley.
Ashley was platted and incorporated on July 18, 1892, when the Wabash Railroad was extended to that point. That year, a post office was established, and it is still currently in operation.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Ashley, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The town of Ashley was platted in the year 1892, the origin of the town being due to the building of the Wabash railroad. This railroad company under the name of the Indiana Improvement Company, bought extensive lands on the site of Ashley, and established a division there. The town quickly sprang into life, and was incorporated as a town in the latter part of 1892. Singularly, the town is placed square on the county line between Steuben and DeKalb counties; the main street is the division point. Many peculiar and humorous, as well as inconvenient, situations arise from this
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
THE ASHLEY TIMES ■was started with the inception of the town of Ashley, located on the county line adjoining Steuben county, by George W. Strayer, who came along with the town boomers to make Ashley a railroad division point. Mr. Strayer conducted the paper for a number of years when his office was completely wiped out by fire in the middle of an afternoon. Without loss of time, Mr.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Nathan Wade had a saw-mill at “ Scrabble town,” now Ashley, in these early times, assessed in 1799, and probably much earlier. There were only two saw-mills when this assessment was made, namely, Wade’s and Delano’s, and two grist-mills — Delano’s and Fitch’s; there were but 86 houses, and 56 of these were built of logs. The school-houses were all of logs.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
, Ashley borough was incorporated in 1 870. Its south-westerly line is lot No. 9 of the first division of lots^of certified Hanover, and its north-easterly line is lot No. 4 in the same division, both included, bounded south-easterly by the conglomerate rock on top of the Little Mountain, and by the Lehigh Valley railroad on the northwest. It had several other local names before it was called Ashley.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveThe Lenox
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ashley. 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 Ashley.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Ashley’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 618 and 1,040 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ashley’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Ashley itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
In 1892, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1900 counted 1,040 people here.
Ashley is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns. 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.
40% of Ashley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.9 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (8), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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