From Lagro Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Lagro Township began
When was Lagro Township founded?
1834
The Lagro Township post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Dora (1857), Lincolnville (1870) and Spiker (1881), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 293 in 18502020 census: 2,733192 years
How historic is Lagro Township?
A−
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Lagro Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lagro Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lagro Township is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #191 of 593 in Indiana. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lagro 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 Lagro Township’s 18.3 sits above most of its state (67% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 5 listings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.2 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 Lagro Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The community was named after Le Gris, a Miami Chief. The Lagro post office has been in operation since 1893.
The National Register of Historic Places listed St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in 1999 and the Masonic Temple and the Red Men Hall in 2020.
Beginning in 1929, one of the main industries in Wabash County was rock wool production. As of 1937 at least five production facilities had been built in Wabash county, two of which were in or near Lagro.
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 Lagro Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1950Lagro 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 Lagro 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 viewRock Ledges on the Salamonie River, Lagro, Indiana (approximately 1879) - DPLA - 19d4f82de7d43488d0a57fe012991220, 1879
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lagro Township’s page.
The Lagro Township post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Lagro Township rank for history?
Lagro Township is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #191 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 Lagro Township?
5 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Hominy Ridge Shelter House (listed 1994, the first).
How old are the homes in Lagro Township?
21% of Lagro Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 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), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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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