Founding year: the first Kirklin Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Kirklin Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kirklin Township is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kirklin 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 Kirklin Township’s 7.4 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±14.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 →
What stands out about Kirklin Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Nathan Kirk, the first white settler in eastern Clinton County, laid out the town of Kirklin in the early 1830s, the original plat consisting a row of seven blocks on either side of the Michigan Road (Main Street). An addition filed on October 24, 1836, added blocks to the east, west and south sides of the original plat. Edward Miller established the first general store in a log building and William Wynkoop built the first hotel; other early businesses included Hiram Dougherty's cabinet shop, James Hollcraft's bar, John Heffner's blacksmith shop, Columbus Kemp's tannery and M. Z. Saylor (physician).
Passages that mention Kirklin Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Clinton County, Indiana. Together with sketches of its cities, villages and towns, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens. Also a condensed hist1886 · page 851Read the page →
Read the text
In 1839 a school-house was built on the Cooper farm, just across the line in Kirklin Township, which was patronized by the citizens of Sugar Creek. This being somewiiat inconvenient, the following year, 1840, a small pole cabin was built on the Ray farm, in which was taught, in the winter of 1840 and 1841, the first school of the township. Soon after this another school-house was built on the John Alexander farm. George Winborough and James Hill were early teachers.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Clinton County, Indiana. Together with sketches of its cities, villages and towns, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens. Also a condensed hist1886 · page 654Read the page →
Read the text
Howard County, Indiana, and a year later went to Delaware County. In 1869 he returned to Clinton County and again bought a farm in Michigan Township, which he owned two years to a day, then moved to Kirklin Township, and in 1883 moved again to Michigan Township, where he lived about two years and then exchanged his farm for property in Hillisburgh and forty acres of land in Johnson Township. In January, 1886, he opened a store and carries a general stock of merchandise suitable for farmers.
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.
By decade
Kirklin Township, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kirklin Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1961Kirklin 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 Kirklin Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Kirklin Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Kirklin Township, census by census
Between 59 and 788 people in every census since 1850.
17 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Kirklin Township’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
Famous people close to Kirklin Township
Nobody well known was born in Kirklin Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Kirklin Township post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Kirklin Township rank for history?
Kirklin Township is more historic than 72% 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 Kirklin Township?
49% of Kirklin Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±14.3 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1941.
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 Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
1903
2012
2007
