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History · Medaryville

Medaryville dates to 1852, and 48% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1860.

1852founded
0on the National Register
48%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Medaryville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Medaryville began

When was Medaryville founded?

1852

Medaryville dates its founding to 1852 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1860.

First census: 98 in 18602020 census: 559174 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1853.The full story ↓

What stands out about Medaryville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 833 in 1950; 559 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Medaryville’s homes were built before 1943.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Medaryville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Medaryville’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMedaryvillePlat: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Medaryville, census by census

0200400600800190019502000Peak: 833

Peaked at 833 in 1950; 559 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Medaryville’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Medaryville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Medaryville.

Read it all →

Medaryville was laid out in 1852, just ahead of the construction of the New Albany and Salem Railroad, later called the Monon Railroad. The town was sited at the intersection of the railroad and the old Rensselaer to Winamac Road, used by settlers to travel to the Land Office in Winamac to record their claims. Medaryville was one of the few towns along the new railroad that was not laid out by James Brooks, president of the line.

The railroad today comes into Medaryville from the south, but the tracks end just north of Pearl Street. The town has always been a commercial rail shipping center for agricultural products, and a large grain storage and shipping complex remains today.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Medaryville, 1852 to 1962

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1852
    FoundingMedaryville is established
  3. 1852In the archiveMedaryvillePlat
  4. 1853Post officeThe Medaryville post office opens
  5. 1888In the archiveMedaryville-MainSt
  6. 20th century
  7. 1900In the archiveGuild-OilLands
  8. 1905Born hereGeneva Mitchell is born here
  9. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 833
  10. 1962On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Medaryville, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s–1900s3 items
MedaryvillePlat1852MedaryvillePlatMedaryville-MainSt1888Medaryville-MainStGuild-OilLandsc. 1900Guild-OilLands
1910s–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 album
Today15 recent
Haring 17052021Haring 1705Haring 17042021Haring 1704End of track (north) 63062021End of track (north) 6306Cemetery 17032021Cemetery 1703Cemetery 17022021Cemetery 1702616 E Main 63042021616 E Main 6304609 E Main 63052021609 E Main 6305512 E Pearl 63072021512 E Pearl 6307416 E Pearl 63082021416 E Pearl 6308Watertower 19-07-05 0032019Watertower 19-07-05 003St Marks Lutheran 19-07-05 0102019St Marks Lutheran 19-07-05 010St Henry Church 19-07-05 0012019St Henry Church 19-07-05 001Methodist Church 19-07-05 0092019Methodist Church 19-07-05 009Main Street ba19-07-05 0082019Main Street ba19-07-05 008Grain Elevator 19-07-05 0022019Grain Elevator 19-07-05 002
On the map

Medaryville on the map, 1962 to 1984

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Medaryville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Medaryville on the 1962 USGS mapMedaryville on the 1984 USGS map1962Medaryville 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 Medaryville.

Every building

Medaryville, building by building, 1904–1909

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.

Medaryville fire insurance map, 1904, sheet 11904Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

MedaryvillePlat
Retake this viewMedaryvillePlat, 1852

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Medaryville’s page.

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Medaryville’s history

What year was Medaryville founded?

In 1852, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Medaryville’s post office opened in 1853, and the census of 1860 counted 98 people here.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (18), 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.