Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns · #404 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Thompson Barnett House. Most of Clay Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. Below: maps from 1955 on and old-book passages.
Clay Township was named for Henry Clay, three-term Speaker of the House of Representatives and Secretary of State.
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, Clay Township is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #404 of 593 in Indiana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls 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 Clay Township’s 3.5 sits near the middle of its state (51% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Clay Township’s history is told.
Two other post offices 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).
From Wikipedia’s history of Clay Township.
Clay Township was organized in 1832. It was named for Henry Clay, three-term Speaker of the House of Representatives and Secretary of State.
Thompson Barnett House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Clay Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Clay Township. — That all territory bounded by Eel Eiver south, west by range line dividing Eanges 1 and 2, on the east by range line dividing Eanges 2 and 3, on the north by the county line taking in the attached part, shall form and constitute Clay Township. — May 7, 1832.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Methodism in Clay Township dates from about the year 1833, at which time Eev. Amasa Johnson visited the spai-se settlements of the township and began holding religious services in private dwellings. These meetings were held from time to time, and finally culminated in the organization of a small class, among the early members of which were George Julian and wife and Mrs.
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.
Weddings 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 Clay 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 Clay Township.
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.
Nobody well known was born in Clay Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Clay Township is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #404 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.
One place: the Thompson Barnett House (listed 1986).
8% of Clay Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.8 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.
