On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hamilton Township is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #134 of 593 in Indiana. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hamilton Township’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 Hamilton Township’s 97.1 sits above most of its state (81% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 69 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% 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 (±5.0 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 Hamilton Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The story so far
Hamilton Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Hamilton Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Hamilton Township is one of nine townships in Sullivan County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 7,143 and it contained 3,404 housing units.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 6,869 to 7,143 (+4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Hamilton Township, 1900 to 1943
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings 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 Hamilton Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1943Sullivan 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 Hamilton Township.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this view"Kersplash" at Cold Springs, 1900
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hamilton Township’s page.
Hamilton Township is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #134 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.
What is on the National Register in Hamilton Township?
5 listings: 1 building, among them the Sullivan County Poor Home (listed 2000, the first), and 1 site. 69 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Hamilton Township?
22% of Hamilton Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1971.
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 the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.