Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 95% of U.S. towns. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Cannelton Cotton Mills, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 178 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers from 1968 on and old-book passages.
The Cannelton post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 95% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cannelton is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns. 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 Cannelton’s 1,289 sits above most of its state (99% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 181 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% 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 country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.
★ Landmark
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveGENERAL DISTANT VIEW SHOWING CANNELTON COTTON MILL FROM OPPOSITE SHORE OF RIVER - Cannelt…
In the archiveCannelton IN 1974
In the archiveMoon tree campkochFrom Wikipedia’s history of Cannelton.
The name Cannelton was adopted in 1844, and is derived from the cannel coal that was once mined in the area. A post office has been in operation at Cannelton since 1844.
The Cannelton Cotton Mill, Cannelton Historic District, and St. Luke's Episcopal Church are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Cannelton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
veyor by appointment, laid out a new town plat by order of the American Cannel Coal Company, 266 lots in all, comprising the central portion of the present city of Cannelton, in which have since been made only a few changes, such as widening the 16-foot alleys to 20 feet. It was thought that a new title might dispel the ill-luck of early Coal Haven, so from among Cannelsburg, Cannelton, Hobartsville, Huntsville and others
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Its career has been one of uniform success, and it is the only order (1915) in Cannelton owning its hall. A building fund was commenced in 1866, $1,500 being realized by a notable fair held in Mozart Hall, a notable assembly-place in Cannelton's earlier years, still standing at the corner of Front and Madison Streets.
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.
3 decades in the archive, from the 1960s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Cannelton’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cannelton’s history is told.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Cannelton post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Cannelton is more historic than 95% 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.
Three places: the Cannelton Cotton Mills (listed 1975), the St. Luke's Episcopal Church (1983) and the Cannelton Historic District (1987).
27% of Cannelton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1961.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.
1968
Date?
2005