Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 22% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Marion Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1954 on, and old-book passages.
More historic than 22% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Marion Township is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Marion 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.
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 →
From Wikipedia’s history of Marion Township.
Marion Township was created from land given by Bainbridge, Hall, Columbia, Harbison, and Patoka townships.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Marion Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Marion Township. The south¬ east quarter of section 11, township 2 south, range 4 west, was the first land entered in this township. The entry was made by John Hall, December 2, 1818. It is now the “Warsing Farm,” and lies south of the Fitter Schoolhouse.
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.
3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2013Marion Township, IN, USA - panoramio (8)
2013Marion Township, IN, USA - panoramio (7)
2013Marion Township, IN, USA - panoramio (6)
2013Marion Township, IN, USA - panoramio (5)
2013Marion Township, IN, USA - panoramio (4)
2013Marion Township, IN, USA - panoramio (3)
2013Marion Township, IN, USA - panoramio (2)
2013Marion Township, IN, USA - panoramio (14)
2013Marion Township, IN, USA - panoramio (13)
2013Marion Township, IN, USA - panoramio (12)
2013Marion Township, IN, USA - panoramio (11)
2013Marion Township, IN, USA - panoramio (10)
2013Marion Township, IN, USA - panoramio (1)Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Marion Township. 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 Marion Township.
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 Marion Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Marion Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Marion Township is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns. 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.
8% of Marion Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.7 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (13), the Library of Congress (5), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
1908
1908
