The story
Read it all →How Center Point came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Center Point.
Center Point was platted in 1856. It was named from its position near the geographical center of the county.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Center Point
Center Point dates to 1856, and 56% of its homes were built before 1940
Its Register listing is the Kennedy-Hoffa House. Below: maps from 1910 on and the census since 1870.
1856founded
1on the National Register
56%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How Center Point began, and where its name came from
When was Center Point founded?
1856
Center Point dates its founding to 1856 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1870.
First census: 226 in 18702020 census: 213170 years
How did Center Point get its name?
Center Point was named from its position near the geographical center of the county.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1855. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
What stands out about Center Point’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 Center Point are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Center Point’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 600 in 1900; 213 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19104 editions of the USGS map, 1910 to 1986. Watch Center Point change.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Center Point’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Center Point’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Center Point, census by census
Peaked at 600 in 1900; 213 people lived here in 2020.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Center Point’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Center Point in 1909
Passages that mention Center Point, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A History of Clay County Indiana (Volume 2)1909 · page 443Read the page →
Read the text
but a lad of fifteen years, immediately after leaving school, and worked in Terre Haute until he had reached the age of twenty-four. Coming thence to Clay county, Indiana, in 1900, he began horseshoeing, blacksmithing and general wagon repairing in Center Point, and from January of 1903 until September of 1907 he was in business with a partner, but at the latter date bought his partner’s interest, and is now the proprietor of the only establishment of its kind in Center Point.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A History of Clay County Indiana (Volume 2)1909 · page 203Read the page →
Read the text
ship. He remained there three years, after which he spent a few years in Putnam county, Indiana, and from there went to Owen county, this state, and worked in a sawmill for nine years. From Owen county he moved to Center Point, in Clay county, and erected and conducted a sawmill there until August, 1907. The mill was then moved to near Hoosierville, where Mr. Mace and his son-in-law, C. O. Rentschler, and son Robert, bought tracts of timber land and conducted the mill. Mr.
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 Point, 1855 to 1910
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1855Post officeThe Centre Point post office opens
- 1856FoundingCenter Point is established
- 1862
Born hereRalph W. Moss is born here - 1893Post officeThe Centre Point post office closes
- 1893Post officeThe Centerpoint post office opens
- 20th century
- 1900CensusPopulation peaks at 600
- 1910
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 Point on the map, 1910 to 1986
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Center Point. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1910Clay City sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Center Point.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Center Point
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
2024
Kennedy-Hoffa House
Buildings
All 1 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 and burying grounds
Another post office, Centre Point, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Centre Point
Centerpoint
18501940today
1cemetery inside Center Point
Center Point
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Center Point’s history
What year was Center Point founded?
In 1856, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Center Point’s post office opened in 1855, and the census of 1870 counted 226 people here.
What is on the National Register in Center Point?
One place: the Kennedy-Hoffa House (listed 2024).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.