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B+History
History · Calumet Township

Calumet Township’s post office opened in 1897, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns · #277 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it

32 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1890.

1897first post office
32on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Calumet Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Calumet Township began

When was Calumet Township founded?

1897

The Calumet Township post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Ross (1857) and Calumet (1897), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 944 in 18902020 census: 91,970129 years

How historic is Calumet Township?

B+

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Calumet Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Calumet Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Calumet Township is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #277 of 593 in Indiana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Calumet Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1897, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194015.5% of homes (±1.1) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register32 listings, 1,347 historic buildings, 148 per 10,000 residents · typical IN town 7.9 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 72%
NewerOlder
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 53%

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 Calumet Township’s 148 sits above most of its state (85% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 1,347 historic buildings outnumber those of 99% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A. The pre-1940 share (±1.1 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 →

What stands out about Calumet Township’s past

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

Landmarks on the Register32 places on the National Register.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Calumet Township, and 5 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19005 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1991. Watch Calumet Township change.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

32 listings protect 1,347 historic buildings

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

places listed
32
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1,347
each building in a district counts

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

Help out

Start Calumet Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view19970419 32 EJ&E Pine, IN: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Ross
1857–1914
Calumet
1897–1906
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Avenue Mobile Home ParkBremerton Mobile Home ParkHoneysuckle Mobile Home ParkRossRoss Mobile Home Park
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Calumet Township
Fern OaksMount MercyRidgelawnRossSaint Marys

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

The story

How Calumet Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Calumet Township.

Read it all →

The Lake County commissioners established Calumet Township in 1883 from a six-mile-wide strip of North Township. The five-mile-wide strip to the east became part of Hobart Township, and the five-mile-wide strip to the west remained North Township. The commissioners also assigned a row of sections formerly in Ross Township to Calumet Township, including the community of Ross itself.

In 1922, following a protracted dispute over road funding, the county commissioners transferred Miller Beach, which had formerly been in Hobart Township, to Calumet Township. The transfer had originally been sought by the independent Town of Miller in 1914, before the City of Gary had annexed it.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Calumet Township, 1857 to 1997

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Ross post office opens
  3. 1897Post officeThe Calumet post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1906Post officeThe Calumet post office closes
  7. 1914Post officeThe Ross post office closes
  8. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 215,940
  9. 1997In the archive19970419 32 EJ&E Pine, IN
By decade

Calumet Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1990s1 item
19970419 32 EJ&E Pine, IN199719970419 32 EJ&E Pine, IN
On the map

Calumet Township on the map, 1900 to 1991

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

Calumet Township on the 1900 USGS mapCalumet Township on the 1953 USGS mapCalumet Township on the 1968 USGS mapCalumet Township on the 1980 USGS mapCalumet Township on the 1991 USGS map1900Tolleston 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 Calumet Township.

People over time

Calumet Township, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,000100,000120,000140,000160,000180,000200,000220,000240,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 215,940

Peaked at 215,940 in 1970; 91,970 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Calumet Township

Nobody well known was born in Calumet Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Janet JacksonAmerican singer, songwriter, dancer and actress · b. 1966
P
Paul SamuelsonAmerican economist · b. 1915
Joseph StiglitzAmerican economist, professor, and recipient of… · b. 1943
F
Frank BormanAmerican astronaut · b. 1928
Ferid MuradAmerican physician and pharmacologist · b. 1936
La Toya JacksonAmerican singer · b. 1956
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Gary29 historic placesBHobart Township5 historic placesA−North Township24 historic placesAGriffith3 historic placesC+Highland1 historic placeB−St. John Township2 historic placesB−Lake StationIts storyC−Hammond15 historic placesA−East Chicago3 historic placesAScherervilleIts storyC−

Questions about Calumet Township’s history

What year was Calumet Township founded?

The Calumet Township post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Calumet Township rank for history?

Calumet Township is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #277 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.

How old are the homes in Calumet Township?

16% of Calumet Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1958.

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 (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.