The story
Read it all →How Carr Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Carr Township.
Carr High School and Medora Covered Bridge are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A−History
History · Carr Township
Carr Township’s post office opened in 1844, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Carr High School. Below: maps from 1959 on and the census since 1890.
1844first post office
1on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Carr Township began
When was Carr Township founded?
1844
The Carr Township post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Carr (1844) and Sparksville (1856), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,651 in 18902020 census: 1,325182 years
How historic is Carr Township?
A−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 84% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Carr Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Carr Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Carr Township is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Carr Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1844, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194030.9% of homes (±9.3) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register1 listing, 6.7 per 10,000 residents · typical IN town 7.9 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 84%
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 Carr Township’s 6.7 sits near the middle of its state (58% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.3 points). 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 Carr 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 writtenNo old photos of Carr Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Carr Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1844: 182 years of Carr Township.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Carr Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Carr Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Carr
Sparksville
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
SparksvilleWeddleville
Gone or out of use
Culletts Ferrylocale
11cemeteries and burying grounds inside Carr Township
Beem Heighten HillBrownGossHeighton HillHinderliderHolmesLanning SpurShoemakerStewartWhite River ValleyZollman
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Carr Township, 1844 to 1959
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the map
Carr Township on the map, 1959 to 1988
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Carr Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1959Medora sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Carr Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Carr 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
2011
Carr High School
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Mid-19th Century1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Carr Township, census by census
Between 1,325 and 1,785 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Carr Township’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Carr Township
Nobody well known was born in Carr Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
G
Gus GrissomAmerican astronaut · b. 1926
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Carr Township’s history
What year was Carr Township founded?
The Carr Township post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Carr Township rank for history?
Carr Township is more historic than 84% 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 Carr Township?
One place: the Carr High School (listed 2011).
How old are the homes in Carr Township?
31% of Carr Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.3 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1967.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikidata (2), 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.