Charlestown Township dates to 1808, and 5 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns · #285 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Most of Charlestown Township was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1812.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Charlestown Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Charlestown Township is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #285 of 593 in Indiana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Charlestown 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 Charlestown Township’s 162 sits above most of its state (86% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 257 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1808.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A. The pre-1940 share (±1.6 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). 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 Charlestown Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Charlestown was established in 1808, named after one of its surveyors, Charles Beggs, upon 300 acres (1.2 km2), of which 3 acres (12,000 m2) was designated for a town square. It was established one mile (1.6 km) northeast of Springville, and was responsible for Springville's demise.
Milling was important to the town, as the first mill was built in the area, on Fourteen Mile Creek, in 1804. This mill would be abandoned when John Work built a mill by use of a tunnel in 1814. Today, that mill is part of the Tunnel Mill Scout Reservation.
From 1811 to 1878 Charlestown was the county seat of Clark County, but as Jeffersonville had surpassed it economically, the county seat reverted to Jeffersonville in 1878.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Charlestown Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1905Prospect 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 Charlestown Township.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewIndiana - Charlestown, 1917
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Charlestown Township’s page.
In 1808, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Charlestown Township’s post office opened in 1812, and the census of 1850 counted 250 people here.
How does Charlestown Township rank for history?
Charlestown Township is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #285 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 Charlestown Township?
5 listings: 1 building, among them the Bottorff-McCulloch Farm (listed 1995, the first). 257 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Charlestown Township?
3% of Charlestown Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1996.
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 Wikimedia Commons (6), 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.
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