Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 79% of U.S. towns · #242 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
12 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1960 on.
Center Township dates its founding to 1852 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1845.
More historic than 79% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Center Township is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #242 of 593 in Indiana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 71.4 sits above most of its state (78% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 328 historic buildings outnumber those of 96% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Center Township’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Center Township.
Center was laid out in 1852. It was originally named Tampico, after the Mexican port, but because there is another Tampico in Jackson County it was renamed Centre (later Center) for its central location in the county.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Center Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Center Township.
Nobody well known was born in Center Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1852, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Center Township’s post office opened in 1845.
Center Township is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #242 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.
25% of Center Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 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 Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
