Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1960 on and old-book passages.
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 Perry Township’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Perry Township.
The first settlement at Perry Township was made in 1833. Perry Township was organized in 1837. The township is named for Oliver Hazard Perry, best known for his heroic role in the War of 1812 during the Battle of Lake Erie.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Perry Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Stockdale — A part of the original plat of this village lies in Perry Township, but the greater part lies across the line in Wabash County. It was laid off b}' Thomas Goudy in the year 1837, and for a number of years was the chief source of supplies for a large community in the two counties. The construction of the Eel River Railroad through the countrv, and the consequent springing up of the town of Roan not far distant, served to check the growth of the place, and within the last few years its business interests have been trans-
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Perry Township.
1960Deedsville 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 Perry Township.
Nobody well known was born in Perry Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, Gilead, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
