Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1840.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives New Pekin’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New Pekin is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns. 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 New Pekin’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 Pekin’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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.2 points). Two sources give 1883.
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 Pekin’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The land for the town of New Pekin was first entered on August 25, 1818. The original town plat was made on December 23, 1883, by W. A. Graves. The town of New Pekin was incorporated in 1903 to provide funds to build and operate a school.
On September 29, 1819, Isaac Davis entered section 30 in what was to become Polk Township. Several years later, in 1831, Christian Bixler laid out the town of Pekin on the south side of Mutton Fork, Blue River.
Before 1831, there were several buildings at this location. As early as 1830, stagecoaches were making regular runs between Jeffersonville and Salem. A wagon route between Salem and New Albany also passed through this area. Pekin was a staging stop where horses were watered and changed.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of New Pekin. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1950Salem sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of New Pekin.
People over time
New Pekin, census by census
Between 246 and 1,401 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on New Pekin’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about New Pekin’s history
What year was New Pekin founded?
In 1883, according to Wikidata. New Pekin’s post office opened in 1840, and the census of 1910 counted 246 people here.
How does New Pekin rank for history?
New Pekin is more historic than 29% 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.
How old are the homes in New Pekin?
12% of New Pekin’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 (3), 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.
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