Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 34 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1959 on and the census since 1890.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Center Township’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Peaked at 1,771 in 1940; 744 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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Center Township.
The Center Township Grade and High School, Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's Home, and Jabez Reeves Farmstead are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Center Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The Maze school house, or Parker house, on the land of William Maze, in Washington Township, near the Center Township line, and just opposite to the log school house which stood in Center, there stood a frame school house. In the winter of 1844, John Griffith taught the first school in it, and several other terms. John Cannutt taught here and had quite an interesting experience which is about as follows: On Christmas he was told that he must treat, and, in order that he might the more easily be brought to time, a
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
here. Just west of the farm, known as the Washington Hood farm, and in Center Township, stood a school house of the pioneer type. Here, about 1840, was a teacher named Banker. Ile was a peculiar man, and proud of his money possessions. He usually carried a considerable amount with him, and took much apparent satisfaction in showing the same. While teaching at this place, he boarded at the late Daniel Hall’s. His dinner was prepared for him as usual, and, on this fatal morning, the schoolmaster walked
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltIndiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's Home is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Center Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
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.
Nobody well known was born in Center Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, Sexton, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Three places: the Jabez Reeves Farmstead (listed 1989), the Center Township Grade and High School (2004) and the Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's Home (2011).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikimedia Commons (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, 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.
2012
