Mooresville dates to 1824, and 3 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns · #263 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Most of Mooresville was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 34 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1826.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Mooresville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mooresville is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #263 of 593 in Indiana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mooresville’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 Mooresville’s 36.9 sits above most of its state (72% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 36 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A−. The pre-1940 share (±2.7 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1824.
Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). 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 Mooresville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Mooresville was founded in 1824 by Samuel Moore after he had bought the area for $2 per acre. The town is named for him. A post office has been in operation at Mooresville since 1826.
The Mooresville Commercial Historic District, Mooresville Friends Academy Building, and Mooresville Gymnasium are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The town was home to Paul Hadley, a watercolorist, who in 1916, had designed the current Indiana state flag for a flag contest sponsored by the Daughters of the American Revolution during the state's 1916 centennial anniversary. Hadley's flag design was adopted as the official state banner on May 31, 1917, and was later renamed to the official state flag in 1955.
Passages that mention Mooresville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The people's guide, a business, political and religious directory of Morgan Co., Ind. ...1874Read the page →
Read the text
The first dry goods merchant in the county was Samuel Moore, the founder of the town of Mooresville. He came to the county in the year 1823, and laid out the town of Mooresville, and has lived in the place ever since.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The people's guide, a business, political and religious directory of Morgan Co., Ind. ...1874 · page 39Read the page →
Read the text
township, is a railroad village and quite a trading point for the southwestern portion of the county. Matthew's Station, a station on the railroad, three and one half miles south of Mooresville, in Brown township. Last but not least is Mooresville, located in the northeast corner of the county in Brown township, and has a population of about 1600 inhabitants. In point of business enterprise and wealth, Mooresville is hardly surpassed in the county. The founder of this place, who is well known to
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.
Timeline
Mooresville, 1824 to 1986
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
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.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Mooresville.
Every building
Mooresville, building by building, 1902–1920
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.
1902Sheet 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.
Retake this viewPaul-Hadley, 1923
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Mooresville’s page.
In 1824, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Mooresville’s post office opened in 1826, and the census of 1850 counted 550 people here.
How does Mooresville rank for history?
Mooresville is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #263 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.
What is on the National Register in Mooresville?
Three places: the Mooresville Friends Academy Building (listed 1975), the Mooresville Gymnasium (1997) and the Mooresville Commercial Historic District (2003).
How old are the homes in Mooresville?
8% of Mooresville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.7 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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