On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clay Township is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clay 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 Clay Township’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.
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 (±11.3 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.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Clay Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Clay Township is one of the 17 townships in Kosciusko County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,657, a decrease from 1,712 at 2010 and it contained 753 housing units.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,712 to 1,657 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Clay Township in 1919
Passages that mention Clay Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A Standard History of Kosciusko County Indiana1919 · page 635Read the page →
Read the text
Wituiam HEtster has long enjoyed a substantial position in the community of Clay Township, where he has spent most of his active years, and is proprietor of a fine farm, well adapted to general agriculture and stock raising. This farm and his home are in section 6 of Clay Township, on rural route No. 4 out of Claypool.
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
Clay Township, 1881 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 Clay Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1957Warsaw 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 Clay Township.
Famous people
Famous people close to Clay Township
Nobody well known was born in Clay Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Clay Township is more historic than 55% 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.
How old are the homes in Clay Township?
28% of Clay Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.3 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1982.
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.
