The story
Read it all →How Newbury Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Newbury Township.
The Menno Yoder Polygonal Barn was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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History · Newbury Township
1 of Newbury Township’s places is on the National Register
More historic than 45% of U.S. towns · #401 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Yoder, Menno, Polygonal Barn. Most of Newbury Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: maps from 1961 on and the census since 1920.
1on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
About Newbury Township’s history
How historic is Newbury Township?
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What drives the grade ↓More historic than 45% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Newbury Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Newbury Township is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #401 of 593 in Indiana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Newbury Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19408.9% of homes (±4.1) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register1 listing, 1.7 per 10,000 residents · typical IN town 7.9 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 45%
NewerOlder
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 32%
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 Newbury Township’s 1.7 sits near the middle of its state (47% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.1 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Newbury Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Newbury Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Newbury Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Pashawn
Pashan
Shore
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Beatys Beach
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Newbury Township
BontragerBontrager NorthLupoldPashan
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Newbury Township, 1850 to 1961
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1850Post officeThe Pashawn post office opens
- 1856Post officeThe Pashawn post office closes
- 1872Post officeThe Pashan post office opens
- 1880Post officeThe Shore post office opens
- 1891Post officeThe Pashan post office closes
- 1891Post officeThe Shore post office closes
- 20th century
- 1908
BuiltYoder, Menno, Polygonal Barn is built - 1961
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the map
Newbury Township on the map, 1961 to 1985
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Newbury Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1961Shipshewana sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Newbury Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Newbury Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1993
Yoder, Menno, Polygonal Barn
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Twelve-sided Barn1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Newbury Township, census by census
Grew from 1,430 people in 1920 to 5,792 in 2020, 4 times over.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Newbury Township’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Newbury Township
Nobody well known was born in Newbury Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Newbury Township’s history
How does Newbury Township rank for history?
Newbury Township is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #401 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 Newbury Township?
One place: the Yoder, Menno, Polygonal Barn (listed 1993).
How old are the homes in Newbury Township?
9% of Newbury Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.1 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1991.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.