History · Center Township

Center Township has 190 places on the National Register, 6 of them National Historic Landmarks

Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns · #5 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it

With 41% of its homes built before 1940 and 34 historic districts holding 5,341 contributing buildings. Below: maps from 1948 on, the census since 1890, and every listing on the Register.

190on the National Register

41%homes built before 1940

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Quick answers

About Center Township’s history

How historic is Center Township?

A⁺

Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

History grade

What drives Center Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Center Township is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #5 of 593 in Indiana. All 2 inputs put Center Township near the top nationally; its National Register listings ranks highest.

A⁺

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 194041.2% of homes (±1.1) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%A National Register190 listings, 5,341 historic buildings, 349 per 10,000 residents · typical IN town 7.9 · U.S. 2.4A⁺

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Among the top 1%

NewerOlder

Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)#5 of 593

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Center Township ranks #9 on History.

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 349 sits above most of its state (93% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 5,341 historic buildings outnumber those of 100% 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 (±1.1 points) is firm at this size.

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.

A National Historic Landmark190 places on the National Register, 6 of them National Historic Landmarks.A historic districtThe Emerson Heights Historic District takes in 1,000 historic buildings.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Center Township, and 9 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Center Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.

★ What stands out · On the National Register

190 listings protect 5,341 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 6 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed

190

National Historic Landmarks

Benjamin Harrison House

historic buildings protected

5,341

each building in a district counts

first listed

1966

Benjamin Harrison House

BuildingsDistrictsSitesStructures★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Italianate25

Classical Revival17

Colonial Revival11

Tudor Revival11

Queen Anne10

Art Deco10

★ Landmark

Benjamin Harrison HouseItalianate

★ Landmark

James Whitcomb Riley HouseVictorian

★ Landmark

Athenaeum (Das Deutsche Haus)Romanesque · Built 1893

★ Landmark

Broad Ripple Park CarouselStructure

★ Landmark

Indiana War Memorial Historic DistrictDistrict

Military ParkDistrict

Woodruff PlaceVictorian

Morris-Butler HouseBuilding

All 192 listings

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, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Indianapolis

1822–today

Brightwood

1875–1898

North Indianapolis

1875–1898

Mapleton

1881–1898

18201920today

Hamlets and corners on the map

BelmontBrightwoodCity of Indianapolis (balance)Clifford ParkCliftonIndianapolisNorth IndianapolisSunnyviewWoodruff Place

Gone or out of use

Brown School Number 6schoolBrowning School Number 73schoolCable School Number 4schoolColgan School Number 10schoolCropsey School Number 22schoolCropsey School Number 22schoolEast Park United Methodist ChurchchurchFletcher School Number 8schoolFoster School Number 32schoolFranklin School Number 36schoolIndiana Department of Natural Resources AirportairportISHC Landing PadairportJefferson School Number 7schoolMann School Number 13schoolMcCormick School Number 30schoolMcCoy School Number 24schoolMcCulloch School Number 5schoolMerrill School Number 25school

7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Center Township

ConcordiaCrown Hill NationalCrown Hill NationalGrave of President HarrisonHebrewHoly Cross and Saint JosephNew Crown

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

The story so far

Center Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Center Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Center Township is one of nine townships in Marion County, Indiana, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 153,549, up from 142,787 in 2010, and it contained 80,885 housing units. It is the most populated township in Marion County. Center Township includes downtown Indianapolis and part of Beech Grove.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 142,787 to 153,549 (+8%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Center Township in 1883

Passages that mention Center Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.

“ When we first came to Marion there was but one family living where the town plat now is; that was Alexander Berry’s. He had a large family, principally boys, Abraham and Samuel being the eldest. They lived near Jacob’s well. After the land was surveyed. Center Township was organized, and the firs… — **The history of Marion County, Ohio, containing a history of the county**1883 · page 483Read the page →
Read the text
“ When we first came to Marion there was but one family living where the town plat now is; that was Alexander Berry’s. He had a large family, principally boys, Abraham and Samuel being the eldest. They lived near Jacob’s well. After the land was surveyed. Center Township was organized, and the first election for township officers was held at my father’s house, and Elias Murray and David Tipton were elected Justices of the Peace. There were not to exceed twenty voters in the township at that time, and we still remained attached to Delaware County until this county was organized.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Ordered, That from and after the 1st day of July next, that part of Big Island Township belonging to Center Township shall be considered to be set back to said Center Township. When the boundaries of Green Camp Township were finally fixed and determined as they now stand, the south tier of sections… — **The history of Marion County, Ohio, containing a history of the county**1883 · page 646Read the page →
Read the text
Ordered, That from and after the 1st day of July next, that part of Big Island Township belonging to Center Township shall be considered to be set back to said Center Township. When the boundaries of Green Camp Township were finally fixed and determined as they now stand, the south tier of sections taken from Big Island in 1825, was restored as appears from the following portion of an entry of that date: March 5 (first Monday), 1838.
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, 1822 to 2016

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

19th century
1822Post officeThe Indianapolis post office opens
1875Post officeThe Brightwood post office opens
1875Post officeThe North Indianapolis post office opens
1888BuiltState Soldiers and Sailors Monument is built
1893BuiltAthenaeum (Das Deutsche Haus) is built
1898Post officeThe Brightwood post office closes
1898Post officeThe North Indianapolis post office closes
20th century
1927BuiltMadame C. J. Walker Building is built
1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1950CensusPopulation peaks at 337,211
1962LandmarkJames Whitcomb Riley House named a National Historic Landmark
1964LandmarkBenjamin Harrison House named a National Historic Landmark
1979BuiltIndianapolis Union Railroad Station is built
1987LandmarkBroad Ripple Park Carousel named a National Historic Landmark
1991LandmarkMadame C. J. Walker Building named a National Historic Landmark
1994LandmarkIndiana War Memorial Historic District named a National Historic Landmark
21st century
2016LandmarkAthenaeum (Das Deutsche Haus) named a National Historic Landmark

By decade

Center Township, decade by decade

Today2 recent

2013Center Township, IN, USA - panoramio (2)

2009Marion

On the map

Center Township on the map, 1948 to 1998

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

1948Indianapolis West sheet · 1:24,000

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.

People over time

Center Township, census by census

Peaked at 337,211 in 1950; 153,549 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Center Township

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

See all →

Philip W. AndersonAmerican physicist · b. 1923

Harry Morton FitzpatrickAmerican mycologist · b. 1886

Jake MitchellAmerican swimmer · b. 2001

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.

Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Wayne Township13 historic placesA⁻Washington Township28 historic placesA Warren Township13 historic placesA Perry Township7 historic placesB⁺Franklin Township2 historic placesB⁻

Questions about Center Township’s history

How does Center Township rank for history?

Center Township is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #5 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.

What is on the National Register in Center Township?

190 listings, 6 of them National Historic Landmarks: 151 buildings, among them the Benjamin Harrison House (a National Historic Landmark since 1964), 36 historic districts with 5,139 contributing buildings, 3 sites, and 2 structures. 5,341 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Center Township?

41% of Center 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 1949.

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 (2), the National Register of Historic Places (192), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.

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Center Township has 190 places on the National Register, 6 of them National Historic Landmarks

About Center Township’s history

How historic is Center Township?

What drives Center Township’s History grade

What stands out about Center Township’s past

190 listings protect 5,341 historic buildings

Architectural styles listings

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Center Township, in brief

What they wrote about Center Township in 1883

Center Township, 1822 to 2016

Center Township, decade by decade

Center Township on the map, 1948 to 1998

Center Township, census by census

Famous people close to Center Township

Start Center Township’s collection

History across the town line

Questions about Center Township’s history

Memory lane

Where this page comes from