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History · Jackson Township

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

Its Register listings are the Big Rocky Fork Bridge, the Mansfield Bridge and the Mansfield Roller Mill. Below: maps from 1951 on and the census since 1890.

3on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940

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.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Jackson Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Jackson Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Dickson's Mills
1824–1852
Mansfield
1852–1906
Vivalia
1882–1905
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Alma LakeMansfieldVivalia
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Jackson Township
HolderJacksMoore

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

The story

How Jackson Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Jackson Township.

Read it all →

Jackson Township was named for Andrew Jackson, 7th President of the United States.

The Big Rocky Fork Covered Bridge, Mansfield Covered Bridge, and Mansfield Roller Mill are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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.

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)
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, 1824 to 1951

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1824Post officeThe Dickson's Mills post office opens
  3. 1852Post officeThe Dickson's Mills post office closes
  4. 1852Post officeThe Mansfield post office opens
  5. 1867BuiltMansfield Bridge is built
  6. 1882Post officeThe Vivalia post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1900BuiltBig Rocky Fork Bridge is built
  9. 1905Post officeThe Vivalia post office closes
  10. 1906Post officeThe Mansfield post office closes
  11. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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On the map

Jackson Township on the map, 1951 to 1963

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

Jackson Township on the 1951 USGS mapJackson Township on the 1963 USGS map1951Mansfield 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.

On the National Register

3 historic places in Jackson Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Big Rocky Fork Bridge
BuildingsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Burr Arch2

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Jackson Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,506

Between 549 and 1,506 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.

See all →
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Questions about Jackson Township’s history

What is on the National Register in Jackson Township?

Three places: the Big Rocky Fork Bridge (listed 1978), the Mansfield Bridge (1978) and the Mansfield Roller Mill (1990).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, 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.