Most of Kouts was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1910 on and old-book passages.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1866.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Kouts’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kouts is more historic than 26% 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 Kouts’ 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 Kouts’ 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.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1865.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.9 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Kouts’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Bernhardt Kautz moved here from Pennsylvania, before the arrival of the railroads, and established a farm where the town now sits. With the arrival of the Chicago and St. Louis Railway in 1865, Kautz and his brother-in-law H.A. Wright laid out the town and established a store. Known as Kouts Station, the town grew slowly until the Chicago and Erie Railroad intersected the line in Kouts. Soon, Kouts became the social and economic center of the township.
Between the Koselke and Phillips ditches is the Pleasant township system, which has its source a short distance north of the Panhandle railroad, about two miles east of Kouts. The main ditch, with its numerous ramifications, trends southwestward and enters the Kankakee river about half a mile west of the Koselke ditch in section 35, township 33, range 6.
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
Kouts, 1865 to 1910
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
In 1865, according to Wikidata. Kouts’ post office opened in 1866.
How does Kouts rank for history?
Kouts is more historic than 26% 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 Kouts?
9% of Kouts’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 (6), 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.
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