The story
Read it all →How Olive Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Olive Township.
Olive Township was organized in 1830 and was named after Olive Stanton Vail, an early settler.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
AHistory
History · Olive Township
Olive Township’s post office opened in 1836, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns · #139 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 6 buildings. Below: maps from 1958 on.
1836first post office
4on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Olive Township began
When was Olive Township founded?
1836
The Olive Township post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Terre Coupee (1831) and Olive (1836), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 4,364190 years
How historic is Olive Township?
A
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 91% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Olive Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Olive Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Olive Township is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #139 of 593 in Indiana. 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 Olive Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1836, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194020.7% of homes (±6.0) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register4 listings, 84 historic buildings, 193 per 10,000 residents · typical IN town 7.9 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 91%
NewerOlder
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 77%
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 Olive Township’s 193 sits above most of its state (87% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 84 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 (±6.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Olive Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Olive Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Olive Township, and 6 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1836: 190 years of Olive Township.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Olive Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Olive 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
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Terre Coupee
Olive
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
HamiltonHubbardOlivePlainfieldTerre CoupeeZeigler
1cemetery inside Olive Township
Olive Chapel
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Olive Township, 1831 to 1958
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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
Olive Township on the map, 1958 to 1969
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Olive Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1958Lydick 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 Olive Township.
On the National Register
4 listings protect 84 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
84
each building in a district counts
first listed
1985
Studebaker Clubhouse and Tree Sign
BuildingsDistricts
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Olive Township
Nobody well known was born in Olive 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 Olive Township’s history
What year was Olive Township founded?
The Olive Township post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Olive Township rank for history?
Olive Township is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #139 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 Olive Township?
4 listings: 1 building, among them the Studebaker Clubhouse and Tree Sign (listed 1985, the first), and 1 historic district, the Haven Hubbard Home, with 6 contributing buildings. 84 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Olive Township?
21% of Olive Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.