Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 51% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Warner House-Warner Schoolhouse. Below: old-book passages.
The North Webster post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 51% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, North Webster is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 North Webster’s 11.5 sits near the middle of its state (64% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (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 North Webster’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of North Webster.
North Webster was platted in 1837, and named for Daniel Webster. The post office at North Webster has been in operation since 1879.
The Robert Orr Polygonal Barn was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention North Webster, cut from the printed page as they were published.
place a mile and a half north of North Webster in Happy Corner community. This was their home and there they prospered for eighteen years. Moving from there, they bought their present place a mile north of North Webster, where Mr. Weimer has a highly eultivated farm of a hundred and forty acres. It is devoted to general farming and stock raising. Mr. Weimer was one of the organizers of the Farmers State Bank at North Webster and is a member of its board of directors.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
place a mile and a half north of North Webster in Happy Corner eommunit.y. This was their home and there they prospered for eighteen years. Moving from there, they bought their present place a mile north of North Webster, where Mr. Weimer has a highly cultivated farm of a hundred and forty acres. It is devoted to general farming and stock raising. Mr. Weimer was one of the organizers of the Farmers State Bank at North Webster and is a member of its board of directors.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Joseph P. Weimer. One of the men whose name is spoken with special mark of respect in the North Webster community is Joseph P. Weimer, long identified with the agricultural affairs of that region and also a banker of North Webster. His country home is a mile north of the town.
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.
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.
Nobody well known was born in North Webster itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The North Webster post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
North Webster is more historic than 51% 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 Warner House-Warner Schoolhouse (listed 2023).
14% of North Webster’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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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