Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns · #460 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Most of Brownsburg was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1850.
Brownsburg dates its founding to 1824 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1850.
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brownsburg is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #460 of 593 in Indiana. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls 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 Brownsburg’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 →
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 Brownsburg’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveBrownsburg Ben Hur station
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereAdam Andretti is born here
Born hereChloé Dygert is born here
Born hereAvani Gregg is born hereFrom Wikipedia’s history of Brownsburg.
Brownsburg was first settled in 1824 by James B. Brown. Delaware Indians lived in what is now called Lincoln Township, along White Lick Creek, which was then called "Wa-pe-ke-way" or "White Salt".
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Brownsburg, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The village of Brownsburg, witli 800 inhabitants, is on sectioa 11, in the noithern part of the township, and is a station on the I., B. & W. Railroad. Itjvaslaid out by WilliamHarris in 1835, and named by him Harrisburg, but the name was changed to Brownsburg when the postofSce was established. B.__^il . Jj.ogan was the first merchant at Brownsburg.
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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2020The Arbuckle
2020N Green Street shelter house
2020Main Street
2020Green Street Redevelopment
2020Brownsburg Town Hall and Police Station
2020Brownsburg Public Library
2020Brownsburg High School
2020Brownsburg 9-11 Memorial
2020B&O TrailEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Brownsburg. 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 Brownsburg.
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.
1902Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Brownsburg’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 132 people in 1850 to 28,973 in 2020, more than tenfold.
17 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Brownsburg’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Brownsburg’s post office has been open since 1836.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1824, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Brownsburg’s post office opened in 1836, and the census of 1850 counted 132 people here.
Brownsburg is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #460 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.
2% of Brownsburg’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 2002.
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 (15), 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.
