The story
Read it all →How Center Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Center Township.
Straber Ford Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Nyttend · Public domainB+History
History · Center Township
20% of Center Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns · #300 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Straber Ford Bridge. Below: maps from 1946 on and the census since 1890.
1on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
About Center Township’s history
How historic is Center Township?
B+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 69% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
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 69% of U.S. towns, #300 of 593 in Indiana. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
B+
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 194020.0% of homes (±6.3) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register1 listing, 3.9 per 10,000 residents · typical IN town 7.9 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 69%
NewerOlder
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 49%
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 3.9 sits near the middle of its state (52% 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.
A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Center Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Center Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Center Township’s homes were built before 1957.
★ 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
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Otter Village
Ripley
Vine Springs
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Laughery SwitchOtter Village
Gone or out of use
Vine Springs Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Center Township
GreendaleOtter VillagePerseverance
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Center Township, 1838 to 1946
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1838Post officeThe Otter Village post office opens
- 1854Post officeThe Ripley post office opens
- 1855Post officeThe Ripley post office closes
- 1856Post officeThe Otter Village post office closes
- 1868Post officeThe Vine Springs post office opens
- 1887Post officeThe Vine Springs post office closes
- 20th century
- 1946
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 Township on the map, 1946 to 1961
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Center Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1946Osgood sheet · 1:24,000U.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
first listed
2009
Straber Ford Bridge
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Stone-Arch Bridge1
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
Between 1,813 and 2,677 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
See all →Famous people close to Center Township
Nobody well known was born in Center Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
W
William JordanAmerican actor · b. 1937
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 69% of U.S. towns, #300 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?
One place: the Straber Ford Bridge (listed 2009).
How old are the homes in Center Township?
20% 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 1957.
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).
From the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.