On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Coolspring Township is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #421 of 593 in Indiana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Coolspring 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 Coolspring Township’s 3.2 sits near the middle of its state (50% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% 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 (±1.7 points) is firm at this size.
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 Coolspring Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, Waterford, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Beattys CornerOrchard HighlandsWaterford
Gone or out of use
Michigan City Municipal Airportairport
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Coolspring Township
Beattys CornerCrossLowsSharp
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Coolspring Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Coolspring Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Coolspring Township is one of twenty-one townships in LaPorte County, Indiana. As of the 2020 census, its population was 15,684 (up from 14,718 at 2010) and it contained 7,302 housing units. Coolspring Township was established in 1836.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 14,718 to 15,684 (+7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Coolspring Township, 1850 to 1983
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Coolspring Township.
1983South Bend sheet · 1:100,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Coolspring Township.
On the National Register
2 historic places in Coolspring Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
Famous people close to Coolspring Township
Nobody well known was born in Coolspring Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Coolspring Township is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #421 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.
How old are the homes in Coolspring Township?
5% of Coolspring Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1976.
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) 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.
