Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 52% of U.S. towns · #371 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Most of Perry Township was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2004. Below: maps from 1957 on and old-book passages.
The Perry Township post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 52% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Perry Township is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #371 of 593 in Indiana. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 1.3 sits near the middle of its state (46% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Dutch Ridge Historic District and Fisher West Farm are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Irene Byron Tuberculosis Sanatorium-Physician Residences were listed between 2004 and 2013.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Perry Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Perry Township in History While Perry Township was given its identity in 1833, it was not until a year later that organization was effected in it. While its first settlement was in 1830, John Ridenour found nothing but a wilderness there. There were Shawnees along the Ottawa River (Hog Creek) and the warriors often visited him. Ridenour was a hunter and Chief Ouilna, known as the pathfinder among the Shawnees, was a frequent guest at his' cabin. There were three sons and four daughters in the
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Perry Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Perry Township.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Nobody well known was born in Perry Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Perry Township post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Perry Township is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #371 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.
Two places: the Fisher West Farm (listed 1985) and the Dutch Ridge Historic District (1995).
2% of Perry Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 2004.
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).
From the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
