Joseph Hill and Robert Edwards platted Michigantown in 1830 with lots on both sides of the Michigan Road; additions made in 1874 and 1876 by William Lowden added more lots to the north, bringing the edge of town up to what was then the Frankfort and Kokomo Railroad (later the Toledo, St. Louis and Western). In 1912 the Marion, Kokomo and Frankfort Electric Railroad built a line that paralleled the other through town.
Michigantown was incorporated in the early 1870s. The northern part of town was sometimes referred to as Lowdenville.
Passages that mention Michigantown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Clinton County, Indiana. Together with sketches of its cities, villages and towns, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens. Also a condensed hist1886 · page 737Read the page →
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The first school was taught by Chrisley Baird, who has the honor of being the first teacher in a log cabin in Michigantown. The first school-house was built in 1834, at Michigantown. In this was held the first religious meeting, held by the Christians.
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History of Clinton County, Indiana. Together with sketches of its cities, villages and towns, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens. Also a condensed hist1886 · page 555Read the page →
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west division between La Fayette and Greensburg, Indiana. In August, 1871, he came to Frankfort, where he has since resided with the exception of five years, from 1875 to 1880, when he carried on contracting and building at Michigantown. Ris work for the past few years has been principally c mtracting and building of churches and school-houses throughout Clinton County. In his political views Mr. Daniels is a Democrat. He served one jear as president of the village of Frankfort before its incorporation as a city,
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Michigantown, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
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 (1), Wikipedia, 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 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.
