The story
Read it all →How Perry Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Perry Township.
Hershey House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Quick answers
About Perry Township’s history
How historic is Perry Township?
C
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 35% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Perry Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Perry Township is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #453 of 593 in Indiana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Perry Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19404.0% of homes (±2.6) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 2.2 per 10,000 residents · typical IN town 7.9 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 35%
NewerOlder
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 24%
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 Perry Township’s 2.2 sits near the middle of its state (48% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±2.6 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Perry Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Perry Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Perry 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, places now gone and burying grounds
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Pettit
Monitor
Heath
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
HeathMeadowbrookMonitorPettit
Gone or out of use
Wildcat Air Landing Areaairport
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Perry Township
SwankUnionZion
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Perry Township, 1854 to 1961
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1854Post officeThe Pettit post office opens
- 1864Post officeThe Monitor post office opens
- 1888Post officeThe Heath post office opens
- 20th century
- 1902Post officeThe Pettit post office closes
- 1902Post officeThe Monitor post office closes
- 1902Post officeThe Heath post office closes
- 1961
On 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 albumOn the map
Perry Township on the map, 1961 to 1984
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Perry Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1961Lafayette East 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.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Perry Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Hershey House
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Greek Revival1
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 Perry Township
Nobody well known was born in Perry 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 Perry Township’s history
How does Perry Township rank for history?
Perry Township is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #453 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 Perry Township?
One place: the Hershey House (listed 1978).
How old are the homes in Perry Township?
4% of Perry Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1999.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.