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C+History
History · Otter Creek Township

Otter Creek Township’s post office opened in 1854, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Otter Creek Township was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Its Register listing is the Otter Creek Covered Bridge. Below: maps from 1959 on and the census since 1890.

1854first post office
1on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Otter Creek Township began

When was Otter Creek Township founded?

1854

The Otter Creek Township post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Otter Creek (1854), Poston (1856) and Lock Spring (1871), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 1,605 in 18902020 census: 1,319172 years

How historic is Otter Creek Township?

C+

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Otter Creek Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Otter Creek Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Otter Creek Township is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Otter Creek Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1854, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19409.8% of homes (±4.6) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 6.1 per 10,000 residents · typical IN town 7.9 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 43%
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 Otter Creek Township’s 6.1 sits near the middle of its state (57% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.6 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 Otter Creek Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Otter Creek Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Otter Creek Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

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

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

Otter Creek
1854–1858
Poston
1856–1897
Lock Spring
1871–1919
Hopewell
1888–1894
Dabney
1897–1934
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Allen CrossingDabneyJackson
Gone or out of use
Lock Spring Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Otter Creek Township
OBrienOld Hopewell

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

Help out

Start Otter Creek Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Otter Creek Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Otter Creek Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Otter Creek Township is one of eleven townships in Ripley County, Indiana. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,319 (down from 1,410 at 2010) and it contained 579 housing units.

Its first post office opened in 1854. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,410 to 1,319 (-6%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Otter Creek Township, 1854 to 1959

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1854Post officeThe Otter Creek post office opens
  3. 1856Post officeThe Poston post office opens
  4. 1858Post officeThe Otter Creek post office closes
  5. 1871Post officeThe Lock Spring post office opens
  6. 1897Post officeThe Poston post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1919Post officeThe Lock Spring post office closes
  9. 1959On 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 album
On the map

Otter Creek Township on the map, 1959 to 1986

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

Otter Creek Township on the 1959 USGS mapOtter Creek Township on the 1986 USGS map1959Holton 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 Otter Creek Township.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Otter Creek 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
2019
Otter Creek Covered Bridge
Otter Creek Covered Bridge
Structures
All 1 listings
Otter Creek Covered BridgeStructure · listed 2019

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Otter Creek Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,8001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,645

Between 1,206 and 1,645 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Otter Creek Township

Nobody well known was born in Otter Creek Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Ronald G. DouglasAmerican mathematician · b. 1938
Morton C. HunterUnion Army general, lawyer, politician · b. 1825
Grover HartleyAmerican baseball player · b. 1888
Milton S. RobinsonUnion Army officer, politician · b. 1832
H
Harry WheelerMajor League Baseball player · b. 1858
A
Amos W. JacksonAmerican judge · b. 1904
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Columbia TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCenter Township1 historic placeB+Shelby Township3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townJackson Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townJohnson Township6 historic placesA−

Questions about Otter Creek Township’s history

What year was Otter Creek Township founded?

The Otter Creek Township post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Otter Creek Township rank for history?

Otter Creek Township is more historic than 43% 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.

What is on the National Register in Otter Creek Township?

One place: the Otter Creek Covered Bridge (listed 2019).

How old are the homes in Otter Creek Township?

10% of Otter Creek Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1982.

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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.