Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 53% of U.S. towns · #359 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Below: maps from 1957 on and old-book passages.
The Eel River Township post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Eel River (1827) and Ari (1872), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 53% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Eel River Township is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns, #359 of 593 in Indiana. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Eel River 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.
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 Eel River Township’s history is told.
Two other post offices 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).
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Eel River Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Eel River Township is one of twenty townships in Allen County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,612.
Its first post office opened in 1827. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,612 to 4,199 (+16%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Eel River Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
During the forty-three years he has resided in Eel River Township, besides being an industrious and successful farmer, he has held every public township office in the gift of the people, except that of Justice of the Peace, and was Trustee for that township for about twelve years.
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Eel River Township. 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 Eel River Township.
Nobody well known was born in Eel River Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Eel River Township post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Eel River Township is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns, #359 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.
14% of Eel River Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1989.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
