Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1825.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bloomfield’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bloomfield is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bloomfield’s overall grade.
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 Bloomfield’s 3.7 sits near the middle of its state (52% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.0 points). Two sources give 1824.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Bloomfield’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
1886Sheet 1 of 1
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BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
On the map
Bloomfield on the map, 1908 to 1980
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bloomfield. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1908Bloomfield sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bloomfield.
The area where Bloomfield is located has been inhabited by Native Americans since prehistory. Tribes that have lived in the area include the Miami tribe, Kickapoo, Piankeshaw and Wea. A settlement of Woodland period people has been excavated by Indiana and Ball State Universities research teams near the confluence of Richland Creek and the White River south of Bloomfield.
The town of Bloomfield was laid out in 1824 when Greene County needed a new county seat due to the lack of a reliable water source for the town of Burlington. Burlington was located west of Bloomfield near the west fork of the White River.
2. And be it enacted, That the inhabitants of said township of Bloomfield shall be and they are hereby vested with and entitled to all the powers, privileges and authorities, and shall be and are hereby made subject to the like regulations and government which the inhabitants of other townships in this State are subject and entitled to, and that the inhabitants of the township of Bloomfield shall be and they are hereby incorporated, styled and known by the name of "The inhabitants of the township of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1868 that part of Bloomfield formerly called West Bloomfield, or Cranetown, became incorporated as the Township of Montclair, taking nearly three thousand persons from the population of Bloomfield. Whittemore's History of Montclair states that "The erection of Montclair as a separate township was occasioned by the refusal of the citizens of Bloomfield proper to consent to the bonding of the township of Bloomfield for
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of the old towns, Norridgewock and Canaan, comprising Norridgewock, Canaan, Starks, Skowhegan, and Bloomfield, from their early settlement to the year 18491849 · page 105Read the page →
Read the text
Crossing the bridge into Bloomfield, the traveller will pause to admire the Falls of Skowhegan, elsewhere described, and rising to the higher parts of the village of Bloomfield, he will see spread out before him the two towns, forming one beautiful village. Business will pass him in various forms, and the activity and air of industry which pervade everything he sees, will
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of the old towns, Norridgewock and Canaan, comprising Norridgewock, Canaan, Starks, Skowhegan, and Bloomfield, from their early settlement to the year 18491849 · page 298Read the page →
Read the text
field, yet Skowhegan was peopled at an earlydate. The natural boundary made by the river, soon led the people to aim at a separation from Bloomfield, and the inconvenient size of the town of Canaan, after the separation from Bloomfield, caused the people to aim at the erection of a new town.
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.
Timeline
Bloomfield, 1824 to 1908
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1824, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Bloomfield’s post office opened in 1825, and the census of 1850 counted 234 people here.
How does Bloomfield rank for history?
Bloomfield is more historic than 84% 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.
What is on the National Register in Bloomfield?
One place: the Greene County Courthouse (listed 2008).
How old are the homes in Bloomfield?
32% of Bloomfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1958.
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 (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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