Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 68% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1960 on and old-book passages.
More historic than 68% 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 68% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 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 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.
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.
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 fifteen townships in Wayne County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,169 and it contained 445 housing units.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,169 to 1,121 (-4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Clay Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Clay Township was organized by the county commissioners at the May session of 1831, and the first election was ordered held at the liouse of Thos. Hatfield, in the village ot Washington. It was not very large, and the commissioners at the March term, 1834, made the following: " Ordered by the board at March term, 1834, That the bounds of Clay Township be extended west "so as to include the whole of sections 21, 28 and 33, town 17, range 13."
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.
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.
Nobody well known was born in Clay Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Clay Township is more historic than 68% 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.
53% of Clay Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.8 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
