Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns · #405 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Most of Cicero was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1984 on, and the census since 1860.
Cicero dates its founding to 1834 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1860.
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cicero is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #405 of 593 in Indiana. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Cicero’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost a third of its people between 1900 and 1920, then grew 5-fold.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cicero’s Wikipedia page.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cicero’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Cicero.
Cicero was founded in 1834. The town took its name from Cicero Creek. The first post office in Jackson Township was established at Cicero in 1839.
The construction of Morse Reservoir in 1956, the northern end of which lies in Cicero, brought more development to the town as well.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Date?Baker-Johnson-Pickett Farmstead, Garage, 1715 East 23…
Date?Baker-Johnson-Pickett Farmstead, 1715 East 236th Stre…
Date?Baker-Johnson-Pickett Farmstead, Large Barn, 1715 Eas…
Date?Baker-Johnson-Pickett Farmstead, Farmhand House, 1715…
Date?Baker-Johnson-Pickett Farmstead, Small Barn, 1715 Eas…
Date?Baker-Johnson-Pickett Farmstead, Pole Barn, 1715 East…
Date?Baker-Johnson-Pickett Farmstead, Main House, 1715 Eas…
Date?Baker-Johnson-Pickett Farmstead, Milk House/Well Hous…The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cicero.
1984Lafayette sheet · 1:100,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cicero.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Cicero’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Cicero itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
In 1834, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Cicero’s post office opened in 1839, and the census of 1860 counted 278 people here.
Cicero is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #405 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.
8% of Cicero’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.2 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1983.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (3), the Library of Congress (8), 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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