On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jackson Township is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Jackson 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 Jackson 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 (±8.9 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 Jackson Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Jackson Prairie
1839–1850
Flint
1850–1907
Lake Gage
1884–1895
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
FlintIndian Hills
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Jackson Township
FlintJackson PrairieLake Gage
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Jackson Township, in brief
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 twelve townships in Steuben County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,633, down from 1,777 at 2010, and it contained 887 housing units.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,777 to 1,633 (-8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Jackson Township, 1885–1915
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.
History of Steuben County, Indiana, together with... biographies of representative citizens1885 · page 698Read the page →
Read the text
Jackson Township has the honor of being the oldest settled portion of Steuben County, Gideon Langdon having located on the southwest quarter of section 5 in the spring of 1831. On the 16th of May, that year, John and Jacob Stayner, with their families, twelve persons in all, arrived from Ohio, and there is some dispute as to whether they or Gideon Langdon settled first, as they all came in at about the same time. Gideon Langdon made the first entry of land on the ITth of September, 1831, locating
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, 1839 to 1940
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.
1940Orland 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.
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.
Jackson Township is more historic than 37% 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 Jackson Township?
16% of Jackson Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.9 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
