Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listings are the Elias Conwell House and the Central House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1946 on, and the census since 1880.
Napoleon dates its founding to 1820 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
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 Napoleon’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveBrokhageFrom Wikipedia’s history of Napoleon.
Napoleon was laid out in 1820. The town was named in honor of Napoleon (1769–1821), a French General and Emperor. A post office has been in operation at Napoleon since 1821.
The Central House and Elias Conwell House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Napoleon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A Bassano to Reinhard B Jerome to the King of Wurtemberg C Joseph to Napoleon D Joseph to Napoleon E Napoleon to Joseph F Joseph to Napoleon G Louis to Napoleon H Napoleon to Louis
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Napoleon always used to treat young Marbeuf's mother with great respect. It has been related that at the time of the establishment of the imperial households the Lady Mother suggested to Napoleon that he should appoint Madame de Marbeuf one of her ladies-in-waiting and that Napoleon refused from a feeling of delicacy. He is said to have answered: " After what M. Marbeuf was for us, it would not be
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
tions with the enemies at home and abroad. But he took good care, as he always did, not to show himself in anything and to write nothing which might compromise him. Napoleon was not in ignorance of the fact that his enemies at home and abroad were planning to make use of the Senate to proclaim Napoleon II., and that the allies hoped to excite civil war in France by separating the Emperor from his son and family; events
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As some recent writers have endeavored to minimize the services of Napoleon at Toulon, it may be well here briefly to restate the facts. He arrived on the 12 September; on the 14th the Representatives sent to the Committee of Public Safety a plan for the reduction of Toulon: this plan, quite different from the one previously proposed, was the project of Napoleon.
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 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2019Old Michigan Rd (Ripley County) 19-10-15 087
2019Old Michigan Rd (Ripley County) 19-10-15 086
2019Old Michigan Rd (Ripley County) 19-10-15 084
2019Old Michigan Rd (Ripley County) 19-10-15 083
2019Napoleon Corner 19-10-15 081
2019Napoleon 19-10-15 080
2019Napoleon 19-10-15 079
2016Napoleon, Indiana
2012Madison from Wilson in
2012Elias Conwell House
2012Central House inEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Napoleon. 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 Napoleon.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Napoleon’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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 234 and 290 people in every census since 1880.
8 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Napoleon’s Wikipedia page.
In 1820, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Napoleon’s post office opened in 1821, and the census of 1880 counted 250 people here.
Two places: the Elias Conwell House (listed 1979) and the Central House (1982).
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
