Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1880.
The Millhousen post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name.
Millhousen was named for a town of the same name in Germany.
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 Millhousen’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Millhousen.
Millhousen was platted in 1858, having been settled by a colony of German Catholics. It was named for a town of the same name in Germany.
Millhousen is perhaps best known for being the home of the Immaculate Conception Church, one of only four Roman Catholic churches in Decatur County.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Millhousen, cut from the printed page as they were published.
forty acres of land for this purpose. The first school house was also built by the Catholics and was placed close to the church. Maximillian Schneider, who was one of the leading spirits in the new community, kept the first store, which was located at Millhousen. Later he sold the store to Barney Hardbeck, who had built the first mill at Millhousen. The first mill in Marion township was erected by a man named Bush and was located on the banks of Sand creek.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
ship, ten miles southeast of Greensburg. Maximillian Schneider, who settled here in 1838, donated forty acres of land on June 29, 1840. to Bishop La Halandiere, of Vincennes, for the purpose of establishing a church and laying out a town. The name Millhousen was adopted for the proposed town in honor of Mr. Schneider's native town of the same name in Germany. The first settlers were composed of emigrants from various parts of Germany, among whom were thirteen families, most of whom were mechanics. All were poor and dependent upon their daily labor for subsistence.
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.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Millhousen.
1958Millhousen 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 Millhousen.
Between 127 and 331 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Millhousen’s Wikipedia page.
The Millhousen post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (2), 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.
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