Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 85% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Junction Railroad Depot. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1956 on, and the census since 1880.
Morristown dates its founding to 1828 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 85% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Morristown is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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 Morristown’s 8.8 sits near the middle of its state (61% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Morristown’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveMap of Shelby & Johnson Counties, Indiana [map] : [city plans] from actual surveys / by A…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Morristown.
Morristown was platted in 1828 by Samuel Morrison, and named for him. The Morristown post office has been in operation since 1834.
Junction Railroad Depot was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Morristown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Outside of the village of Morristown was a somewhat populous farming district. The village itself was chiefly grouped about what has been known as the Green ; but as regards its area, as well also as its appearance, the Green of Revolutionary days was very different from the Green of the year 1905. The Morristown Green of the present day contains about two and a half acres of land, and is finely graded, and laid out in
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The camping grounds, 'is already stated by the quartermaster-general, were "about four miles" from Morristown, in a southwesterly direction. Access from the village of Morristown to the locality chosen was over the course of two roads, the Jockey Hollow road, then commencing at the southwestern corner of the Green, and the Basking Ridge road, then commencing a little southwest of the lower side of the
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Morristown. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Morristown.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 375 and 1,218 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Morristown’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1828, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Morristown’s post office opened in 1834, and the census of 1880 counted 375 people here.
Morristown is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns. 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.
One place: the Junction Railroad Depot (listed 1979).
31% of Morristown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.7 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1966.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 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.
2016
