The story
Read it all →How Bethel Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Bethel Township.
Bethel Township was organized in 1821. The township was named for P. C. Bethel, a pioneer settler.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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History · Bethel Township
65% of Bethel Township’s homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1903 on and the census since 1890.
0on the National Register
65%homes built before 1940
What stands out about Bethel Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Bethel Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bethel Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Bethel Township on the map, 1903 to 1980
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bethel Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1903New Harmony sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bethel Township.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Bethel Township in 1886
Passages that mention Bethel Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Posey County, Indiana1886 · page 419Read the page →
Read the text
It is situated between Black Eiver and the Wabash in Section 6, in Bethel Township. It is on the Peoria, Decatur & Evansville Railroad, and is of some importance as a shipping point for grain and lumber. The postoffice at the place is called Griffin, by which name the town is often called. The lands in the vicinity of Price's Station are exceedingly rich.
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.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumPeople over time
Bethel Township, census by census
Between 245 and 851 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bethel Township’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Bethel Township
Nobody well known was born in Bethel Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places that used to be
Old corners and burying grounds
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Hamlets and corners on the map
New Baltimore
1cemetery inside Bethel Township
Mount Pleasant
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Bethel Township’s history
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From 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.