On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Montgomery Township is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #415 of 593 in Indiana. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Montgomery Township’s overall grade.
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 Montgomery 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.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.5 points).
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 →
What stands out about Montgomery Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Montgomery Township on the map, 1901 to 1980
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Montgomery Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1901Princeton sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Montgomery Township.
"Purty Old Tom" is noted by the historian Gil R. Stormont as the origin of the name for the township, one of the original six created by the commissioners of the newly formed county in 1813. Thomas "Purty Old Tom" Montgomery came to southern Knox County in 1805 and marked an oak tree near a spring. Something delayed his return with his family to claim that land, so he ended up settling on the west bank of Black River near the present site of Owensville. He is mentioned on the Gibson County and Montgomery County, Kentucky page. He was one of seven sons of Hugh Montgomery Sr., of Virginia to fight in the Revolutionary War.
Montgomery Township is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #415 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 Montgomery Township?
19% of Montgomery Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1984.
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, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
