The story
Read it all →How Clay Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Clay Township.
Champ's Ford Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Quick answers
About Clay Township’s history
How historic is Clay Township?
A
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 85% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Clay Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clay Township is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clay Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194034.4% of homes (±15.3) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register1 listing, 8.2 per 10,000 residents · typical IN town 7.9 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 85%
NewerOlder
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 8.2 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±15.3 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 Clay Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Clay Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Clay Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Clifty
Ewington
Burney
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BurneyEwingtonMilford
9cemeteries and burying grounds inside Clay Township
Center GroveColumbiaHebronMilfordMoweryNauvooPatrickPumphreySwinney
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Clay Township, 1838 to 1958
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1838Post officeThe Clifty post office opens
- 1871Post officeThe Ewington post office opens
- 1884Post officeThe Burney post office opens
- 20th century
- 1900Post officeThe Ewington post office closes
- 1904
BuiltChamp's Ford Bridge is built - 1951Post officeThe Clifty post office closes
- 1958
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the map
Clay Township on the map, 1958 to 1988
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Clay Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1958Forest Hill sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Clay Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Clay Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2009
Champ's Ford Bridge
Structures
Architectural styles listings
Stone Arch Bridge1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Clay Township, census by census
Between 1,266 and 1,681 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Clay Township’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Clay Township
Nobody well known was born in Clay Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Clay Township’s history
How does Clay Township rank for history?
Clay Township is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns. 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 Clay Township?
One place: the Champ's Ford Bridge (listed 2009).
How old are the homes in Clay Township?
34% of Clay Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±15.3 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1974.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
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 Wikidata (1), 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.