2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 74 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1958 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1837.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives New Carlisle’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New Carlisle is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of New Carlisle’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 New Carlisle’s 385 sits above most of its state (93% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 77 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.7 points). Two sources give 1835.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 New Carlisle’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
New Carlisle was originally known as Bourissa Hills. This was named after Lazarus Bourissa, a Potawatamie graduate of the Carey Mission who had been granted this section of land by the treaty that moved most of the Potawatamie to the west. It was platted under the name of New Carlisle, by Richard Risley Carlisle, who had come from Philadelphia, in 1835. The New Carlisle post office has been in operation since 1837.
The New Carlisle Historic District and Jeremiah Service House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Indiana Enterprise Center, a mega-sized industrial park located in New Carlisle, was the subject of a popular 2020 documentary film called "Prime Farmland". IMDB.
Passages that mention New Carlisle, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana1907 · page 309Read the page →
Read the text
perous town, located as it was on the great through line of travel from the east. But with the building of the Lake Shore railroad through New Carlisle the greatness of Hamilton declined; and even its original name of Terre Coupee was transferred to the Lake Shore railroad station, two miles east of New Carlisle. The plat was vacated by order of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana1907 · page 300Read the page →
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"August 15, 1835, Richard Carlisle laid out the village of New Carlisle, the only town that has survived : for the village of Hamil-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of St. Joseph County, Indiana1880 · page 339Read the page →
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range 2 east, and taking a northerly course, was run to South Bend, and thence M-est, leaving the county on section 3-i, township 38 north, of range 1 west, where since has been located the town of New Carlisle. The reason the road was run to the present city of Soutli Bend, instead of going in a direct course to its terminus was to avoid the Kankakee marsh.
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.
By decade
New Carlisle, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
Grew from 530 people in 1880 to 1,891 in 2020, 3 times over.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on New Carlisle’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about New Carlisle’s history
What year was New Carlisle founded?
In 1835, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. New Carlisle’s post office opened in 1837, and the census of 1880 counted 530 people here.
How does New Carlisle rank for history?
New Carlisle is more historic than 91% 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.
What is on the National Register in New Carlisle?
Two places: the New Carlisle Historic District (listed 1992) and the Jeremiah H. Service House (2000).
How old are the homes in New Carlisle?
19% of New Carlisle’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 (16), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (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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