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History · Earl Park

Earl Park’s post office opened in 1872, and 48% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1962 on and the census since 1900.

1872first post office
0on the National Register
48%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Huw Williams (Huwmanbeing) · Public domain
Quick answers

How Earl Park began

When was Earl Park founded?

1872

The Earl Park post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 563 in 19002020 census: 370154 years
Founding year: the first Earl Park post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Earl Park’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Earl Park are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Earl Park’s homes were built before 1942.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Earl Park’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Earl Park’s history is told.

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

How Earl Park came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Earl Park.

Read it all →

Earl Park was laid out July 31, 1872, by Adams D. Raub and named for his uncle, Adams Earl, one of the promoters of the Big Four railway from Lafayette to Kankakee. It consisted of 217 lots, the public sale of which on August 8 attracted some 2,000 people. Free lunch and free transportation on a special train of freight cars from Lafayette was provided. The town's first building was a grain elevator, the second the railway station. Elias Wees opened the first general store, providing residents with groceries and provisions.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Earl Park, 1872 to 1962

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Earl Park post office opens
  3. 1878Born hereMatilde Moisant is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1962On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Earl Park, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Wind Turbine P51601362011Wind Turbine P5160136Wind Turbine P51601332011Wind Turbine P5160133Earl Park2011Earl ParkEarl Park, Indiana park sign2009Earl Park, Indiana park sign
On the map

Earl Park on the map, 1962 to 1990

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

Earl Park on the 1962 USGS mapEarl Park on the 1979 USGS mapEarl Park on the 1984 USGS mapEarl Park on the 1990 USGS map1962Earl Park 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 Earl Park.

People over time

Earl Park, census by census

01002003004005006001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 609

Between 348 and 609 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Questions about Earl Park’s history

What year was Earl Park founded?

The Earl Park post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.