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B−History
History · Delaware Township

24% of Delaware Township’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 50% of U.S. towns · #379 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it

Below: maps from 1960 on and the census since 1890.

0on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
Photo: Nyttend · Public domain
Quick answers

About Delaware Township’s history

How historic is Delaware Township?

B−

More historic than 50% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Delaware Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Delaware Township is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #379 of 593 in Indiana. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Delaware Township’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 50%
NewerOlder
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 36%

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 Delaware 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 (±6.8 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 Delaware 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 Delaware Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Delaware Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
The story so far

Delaware Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Delaware Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Delaware Township is one of twelve townships in Delaware County, Indiana. According to the 2010 census, its population was 3,481 and it contained 1,591 housing units.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 3,603 to 3,481 (-3%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Delaware Township, 1881 to 1960

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Desoto post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1956Post officeThe Desoto post office closes
  5. 1960On 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 album
On the map

Delaware Township on the map, 1960 to 1981

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Delaware Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Delaware Township on the 1960 USGS mapDelaware Township on the 1981 USGS map1960Eaton 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 Delaware Township.

People over time

Delaware Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 4,267

Between 1,579 and 4,267 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Delaware Township’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Delaware Township

Nobody well known was born in Delaware Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Another post office, Desoto, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Desoto
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Delaware Township
BlackGodloveSparrStrongUnion Church

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Questions about Delaware Township’s history

How does Delaware Township rank for history?

Delaware Township is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #379 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 Delaware Township?

24% of Delaware Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.8 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1961.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 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.