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C+History
History · Hammond Township

18% of Hammond Township’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 41% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 13 old photos and papers, maps from 1903 on, and the census since 1890.

0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
13old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hammond Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

About Hammond Township’s history

How historic is Hammond Township?

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More historic than 41% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Hammond Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hammond Township is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hammond Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194017.9% of homes (±8.4) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%B+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IN town 7.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 41%
NewerOlder

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 Hammond 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.

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 (±8.4 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 Hammond Township’s past

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

On the map since 19033 editions of the USGS map, 1903 to 1960. Watch Hammond Township change.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Hammond Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.A town in old photos13 old photos, postcards and papers, 1908–1943.
★ What stands out · On the map

Hammond Township on the map, 1903 to 1960

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

Hammond Township on the 1903 USGS mapHammond Township on the 1953 USGS mapHammond Township on the 1960 USGS map1903Tell City sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hammond Township.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

New Hope
1850–1854
Newtonville
1860–1984
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Newtonville
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hammond Township
BeasleyMeeksMount MoriahOld Sargeant

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

By decade

Hammond Township, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1940s12 items
Frank S. Betz Co., (Optical Instruments, etc.) Hammond, Ind. Very few young boys or girls. Location: Hammond, Indiana1908Frank S. Betz Co., (Optical Instruments, etc.) Hammon…W. B. Corkey Co. Going home 5:30 P.M. Lots of boys here. Girls go out at other entrance. Hammond, Ind. Location: Hammon…1908W. B. Corkey Co. Going home 5:30 P.M. Lots of boys he…Throngs flock to Hammond to greet Coolidge1927Throngs flock to Hammond to greet CoolidgeHammond, Indiana. A train of tank cars on Michigan Central Railroad tracks1943Hammond, Indiana. A train of tank cars on Michigan Ce…Hammond, Indiana. Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad train on the Michigan Central Railroad tracks. Both the Indiana Harbor B…1943Hammond, Indiana. Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad train …Hammond, Indiana. Section crews returning from work along the Michigan Central Railroad tracks1943Hammond, Indiana. Section crews returning from work a…Hammond, Indiana. Locomotive equipped with snow plough on the Michigan Central Railroad tracks1943Hammond, Indiana. Locomotive equipped with snow ploug…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Hammond, Indiana. Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad train on the Michigan Central Railr…1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Hammond, Indiana…Hammond, Indiana. Milling and feed company along the tracks of the Michigan Central Railroad1943Hammond, Indiana. Milling and feed company along the …Untitled photo, possibly related to: Hammond, Indiana. A train of tank cars on Michigan Central Railroad tracks1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Hammond, Indiana…[Untitled photo, possibly related to: Hammond, Indiana. Section crews returning from work along the Michigan Central Ra…1943[Untitled photo, possibly related to: Hammond, Indian…[Untitled photo, possibly related to: Hammond, Indiana. Section crews returning from work along the Michigan Central Ra…1943[Untitled photo, possibly related to: Hammond, Indian…
1950s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Date unknown1 to date
Indiana Hotel, 5116 Hohman AvenueDate?Indiana Hotel, 5116 Hohman Avenue
The story

How Hammond Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hammond Township.

Read it all →

The Hammond family settled in Hammond Township in about 1814.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hammond Township, 1850 to 1984

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe New Hope post office opens
  3. 1854Post officeThe New Hope post office closes
  4. 1860Post officeThe Newtonville post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1903On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1908In the archiveFrank S. Betz Co., (Optical Instruments, etc.) Hammond, Ind. Very few young boys or girls…
  8. 1927In the archiveThrongs flock to Hammond to greet Coolidge
  9. 1943In the archiveHammond, Indiana. A train of tank cars on Michigan Central Railroad tracks
  10. 1984Post officeThe Newtonville post office closes
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.

Frank S. Betz Co., (Optical Instruments, etc.) Hammond, Ind. Very few young boys or girls. Location: Hammond, Indiana
Retake this viewFrank S. Betz Co., (Optical Instruments, etc.) Hammond, Ind. Very few young boys or girls. Location: Hammond, Indiana, 1908

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hammond Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Hammond Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,800

Between 1,457 and 2,800 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Hammond Township

Nobody well known was born in Hammond Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Florence HendersonAmerican actress and singer · b. 1934
Bill PeetArtist, illustrator, author, animator and story… · b. 1915
T
Tim WhelanFilm director, writer and producer · b. 1893
Jay CutlerAmerican football player, quarterback · b. 1983
P
Paul D. EtienneAmerican Roman Catholic priest · b. 1959
John H. HoeppelAmerican politician · b. 1881
Help out

Finish Hammond Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewFrank S. Betz Co., (Optical Instruments…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Grass TownshipIts storyB−Huff TownshipIts storyC+Clay TownshipIts storyC−Ohio Township6 historic placesA−

Questions about Hammond Township’s history

How does Hammond Township rank for history?

Hammond Township is more historic than 41% 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.

How old are the homes in Hammond Township?

18% of Hammond Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.4 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1973.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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).

From the Library of Congress (13), Wikipedia, 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.