Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 85 buildings. Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 1850.
The Cloverdale post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cloverdale is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Cloverdale’s 387 sits above most of its state (93% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 85 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cloverdale’s history is told.
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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Cloverdale.
Cloverdale was laid out in 1839. The town was named for the abundance of clover and dales near the original town site. A post office has been in operation at Cloverdale since 1836.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Cloverdale, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Isaac Simpson Sinclair, son of Isaac P.. Jr.. was boi:n in 1840 on the farm in the southern part of Cloverdale township, where he remained until eight years of age. after which the family made several moves, though the greater part of his time was spent on the farm, occupying the brick residence built by his father. About 1895 he moved to Cloverdale and engaged in the hay business, and in 1900 he moved to his present home, a fourth of a mile west of Cloverdale, where he operates a good farm. The familv are members of the Church of Christ at Cloverdale. Isaac S. Sinclair married, in 1862,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The town of Cloverdale is situated on the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago railroad, twelve miles south of Greencastle, and is the second largest town in the county, exclusive of the county seat. It was laid out by Andrew T. McCoy and Moses Nelson,, who owned adjoining tracts of land in 1839.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Cloverdale is situated at the junction of the two railroads crossing the township and dates its existence from 189 1. Tt was surveyed and platted by E. W. Dimmick for W. II. and E. M. Mozier, Tunis and Nora Truax anil Austin and Mary Combs, the proprietors. The first postoffice was called Drncilla. Although there hail been a town here since the construction ot the ( liwerleaf railroad in [877, which was known as Evansville, it was never platted, and when the new town was platted the name Cloverdale was given and the former name gradually disappeared. It was incorporated on
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.
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2013Cloverdale Township, IN, USA
2007Cloverdale P8290026 (EconoLodge)
2007Cloverdale P8290025 (Days Inn)
2007Cloverdale P8290024
2007Cloverdale P8290023
2006Cloverdale IndianaEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cloverdale. 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 Cloverdale.
Between 148 and 2,243 people in every census since 1850.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cloverdale’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Cloverdale itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Cloverdale post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Cloverdale is more historic than 86% 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.
One place: the Cloverdale Historic District (listed 2018).
13% of Cloverdale’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 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 (24), 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), 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.
