On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Center Township is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #299 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.
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 3.3 sits near the middle of its state (50% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 (±5.4 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.
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Toto
1855–1907
Brems
1911–1924
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BremsIndian HillToto
1cemetery inside Center Township
Oak Grove
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 nine townships in Starke County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2020 census, its population was 6,131 (down from 6,229 at 2010) and it contained 2,371 housing units.
Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 6,229 in 2010, 6,131 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Center Township in 1915
Passages that mention Center Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A standard history of Starke County, Indiana1915 · page 452Read the page →
Read the text
to Indiana, where he gave them their freedom. Upon coming to Starke Comity, James Peelle resided on a farm in Center Township for two years and then bought a tract of land on which is now situated the Village of North Judsou, this county. He obtained forty acres, and when the Pennsylvania Railroad line was constructed through this county he gave to the same the right of way through his farm, the railway station at North Judson having been established on the land which he thus donated, with an incidental stipulation that all trains
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A standard history of Starke County, Indiana1915 · page 54Read the page →
Read the text
Knox, the county seat of Starke County, was surveyed and laid out in the year of 1851 and is located on the south bank of Yellow' River in the northeast quarter of section 22, township 33 north, range 2 west (Center Township), and at this time (1914) contains two thousand inhabitants in round numbers. There has been a slow but sure increase since its organization owing to the fact that it had no railroad until .St.uckl ( ulnty Courthouse, Knox the year 1882, when the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad was
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 Township, 1855 to 1957
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Center Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1957Knox West 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
2 historic places in Center Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s 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.
Center Township is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #299 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.
How old are the homes in Center Township?
18% of Center Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1975.
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, 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.
