The story
Read it all →How Locke Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Locke Township.
Locke was laid out in 1867. It took its name from Locke Township.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
AHistory
History · Locke Township
Locke Township’s post office opened in 1847, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 90% of U.S. towns · #147 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1958 on and old-book passages.
1847first post office
2on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Locke Township began
When was Locke Township founded?
1847
The Locke Township post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Locke (1847), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 4,328179 years
How historic is Locke Township?
A
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 90% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Locke Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Locke Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Locke Township is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #147 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 Locke Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1847, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194029.7% of homes (±10.4) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register2 listings, 9 historic buildings, 20.9 per 10,000 residents · typical IN town 7.9 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 90%
NewerOlder
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 75%
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 Locke Township’s 20.9 sits above most of its state (68% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 9 historic buildings outnumber those of 75% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.4 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 Locke Township’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 Locke Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Locke Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Locke Township, 1847 to 1958
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1847Post officeThe Locke post office opens
- 1893Post officeThe Locke post office closes
- 20th century
- 1958
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
From the old history books
What they wrote about Locke Township in 1916
Passages that mention Locke Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A standard history of Elkhart County, Indiana1916 · page 72Read the page →
Read the text
Locke Township, Last Formed Locke Township, the little division in the extreme southwest corner of the county, was the last to be formed, and it had a somewhat varied experience before organization. It is said that in the early days its citizens, so far at least as election purposes were concerned, had to go into Harrison Township to vote; they next voted in Union Township, and then in Olive, and finally, in June, 1 84 1, they were set oiT to themselves, the record being as follows:
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.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the map
Locke Township on the map, 1958 to 1991
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Locke Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1958Nappanee West 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 Locke Township.
On the National Register
2 listings protect 9 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
9
each building in a district counts
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Locke Township
Nobody well known was born in Locke Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
I
Ida Shepard OldroydAmerican conchologist, curator, and paleontolog… · b. 1856
Places that used to be
Lost post offices and old corners
Another post office, Locke, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Locke
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Locke Township’s history
What year was Locke Township founded?
The Locke Township post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Locke Township rank for history?
Locke Township is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #147 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 Locke Township?
30% of Locke Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.4 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1991.
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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.