Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns · #34 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
42 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1941 on.
Harrison Township dates its founding to 1837 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1817.
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Harrison Township is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #34 of 593 in Indiana. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
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 Harrison Township’s 314 sits above most of its state (92% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 1,535 historic buildings outnumber those of 99% 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 country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Harrison Township’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Harrison Township.
Harrison was platted August 4, 1837, by Ann Potts, on the west side of the river from Fort Harrison, a military outpost in the region built in 1811 by General William Henry Harrison.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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 Harrison 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 Harrison Township.
Nobody well known was born in Harrison Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1837, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Harrison Township’s post office opened in 1817.
Harrison Township is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #34 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.
37% of Harrison Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.3 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1953.
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 Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
