Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns · #189 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 51 buildings between them. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1860.
Lebanon dates its founding to 1830 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1860.
Lebanon was named by a pioneer settler who saw a stand of hickory trees on the site and was reminded of the Biblical cedars of Lebanon.
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lebanon is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #189 of 593 in Indiana. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Lebanon’s 29.8 sits above most of its state (70% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 53 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lebanon’s history is told.
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.
1887Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Lebanon.
Lebanon was officially established on April 30, 1830. It was named by a pioneer settler who saw a stand of hickory trees on the site and was reminded of the Biblical cedars of Lebanon. The first post office at Lebanon was established in 1832. In 1853, Lebanon was incorporated as a town and later became a city in 1875.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Lebanon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
As we shall have occasion to make use of his statement on. several occasions, we give an exact translation of it here: “The Lebanon congregation holds its service in the Salem Church, which is built in the town of Lebanon. This town was laid out in the year 1756, by George Steitz, and lies on the stream Quitapahila, (an Indian name, which in German means Schlangen-Loch), 25 miles northwest of Lancaster and 28 miles west of Reading. At first the inhabitants belonged partly to the Bergkirche, and partly to the Gruppenkirch (a small log
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
On December 1st, 1884, the pastors presented a proposition to establish three mission schools in the city of Lebanon, one in West Lebanon where Messrs. Reinoehl & Meily had presented a lot to the Congregation for Chapel purposes, one in east Lebanon, in the vicinity of Fourth and Chestnut Streets and one in North Lebanon in the vicinity
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereOtis William Caldwell is born here
In the archiveBirds-eye view of Lebanon, Ind. - photo by E.S. Harvey, Lebanon, Ind
Born hereRick Mount is born here
Born hereSylvia Likens is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lebanon. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lebanon.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lebanon’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 892 people in 1860 to 16,662 in 2020, more than tenfold.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lebanon’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Lebanon’s post office has been open since 1832.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1830, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Lebanon’s post office opened in 1832, and the census of 1860 counted 892 people here.
Lebanon is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #189 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.
4 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Boone County Courthouse (listed 1986, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Oak Hill Cemetery and the Lebanon Courthouse Square Historic District, with 51 contributing buildings. 53 historic buildings in all.
17% of Lebanon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1976.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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