Its Register listings are the Hagerstown I.O.O.F. Hall and the John & Caroline Stonebraker House. Its Register listings are the Hagerstown I.O.O.F. Hall and the John & Caroline Stonebraker House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1836.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Hagerstown’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hagerstown is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hagerstown’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 Hagerstown’s 12.2 sits near the middle of its state (65% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.2 points). Two sources give 1832.
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 →
What stands out about Hagerstown’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Hagerstown was laid out and platted in 1832. The town was named after the city of Hagerstown, Maryland. The Hagerstown post office has been in operation since 1836.
The Whitewater Canal, which was built in the mid-19th century and extends to Lawrenceburg, Indiana, has its northern terminus in Hagerstown. This section was funded by the Hagerstown Canal Company.
The Hagerstown I.O.O.F. Hall and John and Caroline Stonebraker House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Passages that mention Hagerstown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Wayne County, Indiana1884 · page 521Read the page →
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That this extraordinary prosperity, the result, in great part,- of a peculiar juncture of circumstances, should be enduring was hardly to be expected. The completion of the canal to Hagerstown and the construction of railroads have virtually established a mart of trade in every town, and measurably narrowed the sphere of the trade of Cambridge; yet this being the converging point of so many railroads and being surrounded by a fertile country and a wealthy population, it
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Wayne county, Indiana, from its first settlement to the present time1872 · page 249Read the page →
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That this extraordinary prosperity, the result, in great part, of a peculiar juncture of circumstances, should be enduring, was hardly to be expected. The completion of the canal to Hagerstown, and the construction of railroads, have virtually established a mart of trade in every town, and measurably ri arrowed the sphere of the trade of Cambridge; yet this being the converging point of so many railroads, and being surrounded by a fertile country and a wealthy
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History of Wayne County, Indiana1884 · page 529Read the page →
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Hagerstown has a few Catholic families, and they are visited once a month by the pastor of Cambridge City. Mass is celebrated in a private house.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Wayne county, Indiana, from its first settlement to the present time1872 · page 114Read the page →
Read the text
The canal constructed by the company extended north only to Cambridge City. Subsequently, in or about the year 1846, the Hagerstown Canal Comjmny was organized, and the canal completed to that place in 1847. But a small number of boats, however, ever reached that place; and the canal soon fell into disuse, except as a source of water-power for Conklin's and other mills.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hagerstown. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1960Hagerstown 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 Hagerstown.
Every building
Hagerstown, building by building, 1896–1901
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.
In 1832, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Hagerstown’s post office opened in 1836, and the census of 1850 counted 606 people here.
How does Hagerstown rank for history?
Hagerstown is more historic than 91% 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.
What is on the National Register in Hagerstown?
Two places: the Hagerstown I.O.O.F. Hall (listed 1978) and the John & Caroline Stonebraker House (2014).
How old are the homes in Hagerstown?
50% of Hagerstown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.2 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 (3), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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), 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.
Date?
2017
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