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CHistory
History · Oregon Township

Oregon Township dates to 1801

More historic than 35% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Oregon Township was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1956 on, and the census since 1810.

1801founded
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Oregon Township began

When was Oregon Township founded?

1801

Oregon Township dates its founding to 1801 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1810.

First census: 5,670 in 18102020 census: 1,753225 years

How historic is Oregon Township?

C

More historic than 35% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1844.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Oregon Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oregon Township is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Oregon Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1801, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19403.0% of homes (±3.4) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%C−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IN town 7.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 35%
NewerOlder

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 Oregon Township’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.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1801.
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 (±3.4 points).

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 Oregon 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 writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Oregon Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsEstablished in 1801: 225 years of Oregon Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Oregon Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Oregon Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Polk Run
1844–1879
Oregon
1846–1910
Marysville
1871–today
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
MarysvilleNew MarketRunyantown
Gone or out of use
Polk Run Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Oregon Township
BeswickKernStates

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Timeline

Oregon Township, 1801 to 1956

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1801
    FoundingOregon Township is established
  3. 1844Post officeThe Polk Run post office opens
  4. 1846Post officeThe Oregon post office opens
  5. 1871Post officeThe Marysville post office opens
  6. 1879Post officeThe Polk Run post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1910Post officeThe Oregon post office closes
  9. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Oregon Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Oregon Township.

Read it all →

Clark County lies on the north bank of the Ohio River. A significant gateway to the state of Indiana, Clark County's settlement began in 1783. The state of Virginia rewarded General George Rogers Clark and his regiment for their victorious capture of Forts Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Vincennes from the British, by granting them 150,000 acres (610 km2) of land. A small portion of this land, 1,000 acres (4.0 km2), became known as Clarksville, the first authorized American settlement in the Northwest Territory, founded the next year in 1784.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Oregon Township, decade by decade

Date unknown2 to date
Baird's history of Clark County, IndianaDate?Baird's history of Clark County, IndianaBookHistory of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketchesDate?History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties :…Book
Today3 recent
Radar image EF2 Prospect, KY tornado 20242024Radar image EF2 Prospect, KY tornado 2024Clark County map2022Clark County mapMapPrather Site from Charlestown Pike2012Prather Site from Charlestown Pike
On the map

Oregon Township on the map, 1956 to 1980

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Oregon Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Oregon Township on the 1956 USGS mapOregon Township on the 1980 USGS map1956Otisco 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 Oregon Township.

People over time

Oregon Township, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,000100,000120,0001850190019502000121,093

Grew from 5,670 people in 1810 to 121,093 in 2020, more than tenfold.

22 censuses, 1810–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Oregon Township’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Charlestown Township5 historic placesB+Monroe TownshipIts storyC−Washington TownshipIts storyC−Lexington TownshipIts storyC+Owen TownshipIts storyCOtiscoIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Oregon Township’s history

What year was Oregon Township founded?

In 1801, according to Wikidata. Oregon Township’s post office opened in 1844, and the census of 1810 counted 5,670 people here.

How does Oregon Township rank for history?

Oregon Township is more historic than 35% 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 Oregon Township?

3% of Oregon Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1994.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 Wikimedia Commons (5), 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.