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C+History
History · Butler Township

Butler Township dates to 1856, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Butler Township was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Its Register listing is the William Cornell Homestead. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1957 on, and the census since 1880.

1856founded
1on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Butler Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Butler Township began

When was Butler Township founded?

1856

Butler Township dates its founding to 1856 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 1,056 in 18802020 census: 1,733170 years

How historic is Butler Township?

C+

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1840.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Butler Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Butler Township is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Butler Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1856, from Wikipedia: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19409.9% of homes (±6.1) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 5.0 per 10,000 residents · typical IN town 7.9 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 43%
NewerOlder

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 Butler Township’s 5.0 sits near the middle of its state (53% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1856.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.1 points).

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 →

What stands out about Butler Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Butler Township, and 4 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Butler Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Butler Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewButler Masonic Lodge, 100 South Broadway: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Dekalb
1840–1905
New Era
1868–1906
Cedar
1894–1914
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Butler CenterCedarNew EraSaint Johns
Gone or out of use
Hixon Sand and Gravel PitmineIndian Springs PitmineShenk Airportairport

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Butler Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Butler Township.

Read it all →

Butler was platted in 1856 when the railroad was extended to that point. It was likely named for David Butler, a pioneer. Butler was incorporated as a town in 1866, and as a city in 1903.

On July 23, 1966, Butler was one of the end points of a record-setting speed run by a New York Central RDC-3, M-497 Black Beetle, modified with a pair of jet engines, as the rail line between it and Stryker, Ohio, was both straight and flat. The car reached a speed of 183.68 mph (295.6 km/h), an American rail speed record that still stands today.

The Downtown Butler Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Butler Township, 1840 to 1957

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1840Post officeThe Dekalb post office opens
  3. 1856
    FoundingButler Township is established
  4. 1868Post officeThe New Era post office opens
  5. 1894Post officeThe Cedar post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1905Post officeThe Dekalb post office closes
  8. 1906Post officeThe New Era post office closes
  9. 1914Post officeThe Cedar post office closes
  10. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Butler Township, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Butler Masonic Lodge, 100 South BroadwayDate?Butler Masonic Lodge, 100 South Broadway
Today7 recent
Sunrise Capitol Limited crossing the Indiana-Ohio line, August 20182018Sunrise Capitol Limited crossing the Indiana-Ohio lin…Butler Indiana home2015Butler Indiana homeButler Indiana crossroads2015Butler Indiana crossroadsButler Community Mausoleum2014Butler Community MausoleumButler, Indiana2012Butler, IndianaME Church P60100472011ME Church P6010047ME Church 1889 P60100452011ME Church 1889 P6010045
On the map

Butler Township on the map, 1957 to 1994

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Butler Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Butler Township on the 1957 USGS mapButler Township on the 1973 USGS mapButler Township on the 1984 USGS mapButler Township on the 1994 USGS map1957Auburn sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Butler Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Butler Masonic Lodge, 100 South Broadway
Retake this viewButler Masonic Lodge, 100 South Broadway

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Butler Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Butler Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
William Cornell Homestead
William Cornell Homestead
Buildings
William Cornell HomesteadBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Butler Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,725

Between 1,056 and 2,725 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Butler Township’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Keyser Township20 historic placesA+Perry Township2 historic placesB−Swan TownshipIts storyBJackson TownshipIts storyC−

Questions about Butler Township’s history

What year was Butler Township founded?

In 1856, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Butler Township’s post office opened in 1840, and the census of 1880 counted 1,056 people here.

How does Butler Township rank for history?

Butler Township is more historic than 43% 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 Butler Township?

One place: the William Cornell Homestead (listed 1973).

How old are the homes in Butler Township?

10% of Butler Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1975.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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).

From Wikimedia Commons (7), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) 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.