The Jackson Township post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Foresthill (1849), Sardinia (1850) and Waynesburg (1854), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,562 in 18902020 census: 938168 years
Founding year: the first Jackson Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
What stands out about Jackson Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Jackson Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Jackson Township is one of nine townships in Decatur County, Indiana. As of the 2020 census, its population was 938 (down from 988 at 2010) and it contained 403 housing units.
Its first post office opened in 1858. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 988 to 938 (-5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Jackson Township in 1915
Passages that mention Jackson Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Jackson Township, Sullivan County, Indiana1915Read the page →
Read the text
Township practically all her life and has seen it change from a forest of heavy timber abounding with wild game to the Jackson Township of 1915. At that time there were no churches in the township and but one school house. This was made of logs and stood on the ground)
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.
Timeline
Jackson Township, 1849 to 1959
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Jackson Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1958Grammer 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 Jackson Township.
People over time
Jackson Township, census by census
Between 938 and 1,562 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Jackson Township’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
Famous people close to Jackson Township
Nobody well known was born in Jackson Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From 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 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.
