The story
Read it all →How Lagrange came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Lagrange.
LaGrange was laid out and platted in 1836. It took its name from LaGrange County.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
AHistory
History · Lagrange
Lagrange’s post office opened in 1844, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns · #182 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Its Register listing is the La Grange County Courthouse. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1883 on, and the census since 1860.
1844first post office
1on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Quick answers
How Lagrange began
When was Lagrange founded?
1844
The Lagrange post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 650 in 18602020 census: 2,715182 years
How historic is Lagrange?
A
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 86% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Lagrange post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lagrange’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lagrange is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #182 of 593 in Indiana. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lagrange’s overall grade.
Founding era1844, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194038.1% of homes (±7.7) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register1 listing, 3.6 per 10,000 residents · typical IN town 7.9 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 86%
NewerOlder
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 69%
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 Lagrange’s 3.6 sits near the middle of its state (52% 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 B+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.7 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 Lagrange’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 Lagrange’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lagrange’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Every building
Lagrange, building by building, 1883–1910
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1883Sheet 1 of 1Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Lagrange, 1844 to 1947
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Lagrange, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1930s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your albumDate unknown1 to date
Date?
2016
2016
2016
2015
2012
2012
2005On the map
Lagrange on the map, 1947 to 1993
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lagrange. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1947Lagrange sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lagrange.
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 viewIm-iumed-iph-Curtiss Oriole-1922-v25n1p7g1, 1922
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lagrange’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
1 historic place in Lagrange
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
first listed
1980
La Grange County Courthouse
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Georgian1
French Second Empire1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Lagrange, census by census
Between 650 and 2,919 people in every census since 1860.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lagrange’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Lagrange’s history
What year was Lagrange founded?
The Lagrange post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Lagrange rank for history?
Lagrange is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #182 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.
What is on the National Register in Lagrange?
One place: the La Grange County Courthouse (listed 1980).
How old are the homes in Lagrange?
38% of Lagrange’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.7 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1966.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.