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BHistory
History · Center Township

12% of Center Township’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 56% of U.S. towns. What drives it

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: maps from 1950 on and the census since 1890.

1on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
Quick answers

About Center Township’s history

How historic is Center Township?

B

More historic than 56% 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 more historic than 56% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Center Township’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 56%
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 Center Township’s 6.8 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 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 (±6.3 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.
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Hindostan
1819–1830
Doverhill
1846–1906
Pleasant Valley
1850–1859
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Dover HillHindostan FallsPleasant ValleyShoals Overlook
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Center Township
HallMcBridesSholtsSteep Hollow

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 six townships in Martin County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,448 and it contained 717 housing units.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,654 to 1,448 (-12%).

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

Timeline

Center Township, 1819 to 1950

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1819Post officeThe Hindostan post office opens
  3. 1830Post officeThe Hindostan post office closes
  4. 1846Post officeThe Doverhill post office opens
  5. 1850Post officeThe Pleasant Valley post office opens
  6. 1859Post officeThe Pleasant Valley post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1906Post officeThe Doverhill post office closes
  9. 1950On 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 album
On the map

Center Township on the map, 1950 to 1993

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

Center Township on the 1950 USGS mapCenter Township on the 1960 USGS mapCenter Township on the 1989 USGS mapCenter Township on the 1993 USGS map1950Shoals 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.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Center 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

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Center Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,820

Between 1,384 and 1,820 people in every census since 1890.

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 →
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 56% 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.

How old are the homes in Center Township?

12% of Center Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1982.

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 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.