Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Felt's Farm. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1880.
Eaton dates its founding to 1854 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Eaton is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls 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 Eaton’s 6.1 sits near the middle of its state (57% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Eaton’s history is told.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1900Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Eaton.
Eaton was laid out and platted in 1854. The town was incorporated September 10, 1873, soon after the railroad had been built through the neighborhood.
The first discovery of natural gas in Indiana occurred in the town of Eaton in 1876. The discovery set off the Indiana Gas Boom, leading to two decades of rapid regional growth.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Eaton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
16, 1842, provides that " All that part of the county of Eaton designated by the United States survey as township No. 2 north, of range 3 wesl (now a part of the township of Eaton), be, and the same is, hereby set off and organized into a separate township by the name of Eaton Rapids; and the first town.>ihip-meeting shall be held at the house of H. Hamlin, at the village of Eaton Rapids, and the ne.\t township-meeting in the township of Eaton shall be bolden at the house of William Stoddard.''*"
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
"Section 1. — Be it enacted h;/ the Senate and Nome of Bepienentalivcs of the State of Miehirjon, That the act heretofore passed setting off and organizing the township of Tyler, in the county of Eaton, be and the same is hereby repealed; and the said township of Tyler, being town one north, of range three west, is hereby joined and united to the township of Eaton Riipids, in said county, by which name they shall be hereafter known and designated; and the first township-meeting shall be held at the Eaton Rapids Hotel, in the village of Eaton
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
year and built a little meeting-house on the spot where the present one now stands. In 1713 were added from the said Pennepek, John Eaton, Jane Eaton, Joseph Eaton, Gwenllian Eaton, George Eaton, Mary Eaton. 3 2 John Eaton, son of (John Eaton) b Historical in 1659; was of Llandewr Fach, Radnorshire, Miscellany Wales in 1686, and settled on the banks of ^o^enJ
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In the first parish meeting of the North Parish of Methuen held Jan. 15, 1736, "Thomas Eaton was chosen parish treasurer." His name frequently appears on committees. When the church was organized, Jan. 16, 1740, Thomas Eaton was chosen deacon.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveMap of the Surveys of the United States Road Between Columbus & Indianapolis Toegether wi…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1820s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Eaton. 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 Eaton.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Eaton’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Between 208 and 1,805 people in every census since 1880.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Eaton’s Wikipedia page.
Eaton’s post office has been open since 1856. Another post office, Shideler, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1854, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Eaton’s post office opened in 1856, and the census of 1880 counted 208 people here.
Eaton is more historic than 67% 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 Felt's Farm (listed 1975).
34% of Eaton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.6 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1957.
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 (5), the Library of Congress (1), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
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