The story
Read it all →How Center Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Center Township.
Center Township was so named from its position near the geographical center of Hendricks County.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A−History
History · Center Township
12% of Center Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 79% of U.S. towns · #237 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
10 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1953 on and old-book passages.
10on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
About Center Township’s history
How historic is Center Township?
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What drives the grade ↓More historic than 79% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Center Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Center Township is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #237 of 593 in Indiana. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Center Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194011.9% of homes (±3.2) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register10 listings, 94 historic buildings, 67.7 per 10,000 residents · typical IN town 7.9 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 79%
NewerOlder
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 60%
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 Center Township’s 67.7 sits above most of its state (78% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 94 historic buildings outnumber those of 89% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.2 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Center Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Center Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Center Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the National Register
10 listings protect 94 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
10
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
94
each building in a district counts
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Another post office, Gale, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
GaleNash
17cemeteries and burying grounds inside Center Township
ArnoldArnold StuartAyearsChristie EastChristie WestCoferGentryHardwickHillsideHytenKigerMill CreekMount PleasantNew Mill CreekNicholsNoland Number 2Templin
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From the old history books
What they wrote about Center Township in 1885
Passages that mention Center Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Hendricks County, Indiana1885 · page 715Read the page →
Read the text
16, 1814, a son of Michael and Elizabeth Wills. When he was an infant his father died, and when eighteen years of age he came with his mother and ‘other members of the family to Hendricks County, Ind., and for a short time lived in Center Township, south I ot Danville. He then bought land in Liberty Township, on which the present village of Clayton was built, where he lived i about twenty years, when he returiffed to Center Township, and in 1862 settled in Middle Township, where he has since lived, his
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.
Timeline
Center Township, 1882 to 1953
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1882Post officeThe Gale post office opens
- 20th century
- 1906Post officeThe Gale post office closes
- 1953
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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
Center Township on the map, 1953 to 1986
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Center Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1953Danville 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 Center Township.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Center Township
Nobody well known was born in Center Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Center Township’s history
How does Center Township rank for history?
Center Township is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #237 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 Center Township?
12% of Center Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.