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C−History
History · Center Township

Half of Center Township’s homes were built after 1982

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Center Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Below: maps from 1903 on and the census since 1890.

0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
Quick answers

About Center Township’s history

How historic is Center Township?

C−

More historic than 22% 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 22% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Center Township’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 22%
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 0.0 sits below most of its state (22% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 (±3.9 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, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Wadesville
1855–today
Oliver
1883–1934
Hepburn
1898–1905
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
HepburnOliverWadesville
Gone or out of use
Stierley Airportairport
1cemetery inside Center Township
Laurel Hill

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

On the map

Center Township on the map, 1903 to 1981

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 1903 USGS mapCenter Township on the 1938 USGS mapCenter Township on the 1959 USGS mapCenter Township on the 1981 USGS map1903New Harmony sheet · 1:62,500

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.

The story

How Center Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Center Township.

Read it all →

Center Township was established in 1859. The township was so named on account of its location being near the geographical center of Posey County.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Center Township, 1855 to 1934

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1855Post officeThe Wadesville post office opens
  3. 1883Post officeThe Oliver post office opens
  4. 1898Post officeThe Hepburn post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1903On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1905Post officeThe Hepburn post office closes
  8. 1934Post officeThe Oliver post office closes
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
People over time

Center Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,479

Between 776 and 1,479 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 22% 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?

8% of Center Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 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 Wikipedia, 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.