On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lafayette Township is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #458 of 593 in Indiana. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lafayette 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 Lafayette 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 (±5.3 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 Lafayette 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, places now gone and burying grounds
Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Madison
1824–1826
Prosperity
1853–1875
Florida
1864–1903
Linwood
1887–1929
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
FloridaLinwoodProsperity
Gone or out of use
H and R Skylane Airportairport
1cemetery inside Lafayette Township
Knights of Pythias
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Lafayette Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lafayette Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Lafayette Township is one of fourteen townships in Madison County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 5,275 and it contained 2,379 housing units. Lafayette Township was organized in 1836.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 5,275 to 5,102 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Lafayette Township, 1824 to 1960
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lafayette Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1960Anderson North 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 Lafayette Township.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewIndiana. Lafayette County Court House at Tippecanoe County, 1890
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lafayette Township’s page.
Lafayette Township is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #458 of 593 in Indiana. 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 Lafayette Township?
14% of Lafayette Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1966.
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 the Library of Congress (18), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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