Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns · #102 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1984 on, and the census since 1870.
The Bourbon Township post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bourbon Township is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #102 of 593 in Indiana. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
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 Bourbon Township’s 247 sits above most of its state (90% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 70 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bourbon Township’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Bourbon Township.
The town of Bourbon was laid out in 1853 when it was certain the railroad would be extended to that point. It took its name from Bourbon Township, which was named after Bourbon County, Kentucky, the former home of many of the early settlers.
The Bourbon Community Building-Gymnasium was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bourbon Township.
1984Knox sheet · 1:100,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bourbon Township.
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 Bourbon Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 874 and 1,810 people in every census since 1870.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bourbon Township’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Bourbon Township post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Bourbon Township is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #102 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.
27% of Bourbon Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 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 (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
Date?
2020
2020
2012
2008
2008