Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns · #109 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
8 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 241 buildings between them. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1957 on, and the census since 1860.
The Plymouth post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Plymouth is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #109 of 593 in Indiana. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
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 Plymouth’s 230 sits above most of its state (89% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 245 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% 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 country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Plymouth’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Plymouth.
This area was part of the territory of the Potawatomi Native Americans, one of the historical tribes encountered by American settlers. In the nineteenth century, the United States government made numerous treaties to buy and extinguish Native American claims to land in the former Northwest Territory and the Southeast.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Plymouth, cut from the printed page as they were published.
cusset, where he lived a few years, but came to the conclusion that he could better his fortune for himself and children by moving further into the interior. He accordingly selected a place thirteen miles west of the village of Plymouth, on the confines of Bridgewater, Middleborough, and what was then called Plymouth (now Halifax), and purchased land of William Wetis-pa-quin, sachem of the Neponsets, the purchase having been approved by the Court. The deed may be found recorded
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Thomas became a soldier in Capt. Sears Washburn's Bridgewater company stationed at Plymouth in 1814 and was connected with the old Bridgewater Cadet Rifle company, organized in 1819, of which Mr. Thomas Hooper was afterwards a member. At the age of 21 Mr. Cushman began his career as a teacher and for more than thirty years, with slight interruptions, he continued to be an instructor of youth in Bridgewater and neighboring towns, deeply devoted to his calling and lay-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Dr. James Thatcher in his history of Plymouth says : " No stone of an earlier date than 1681 is to be found on Burial Hill of Plymouth, though it is by no means probable that this was the first interment here." It is to the memory of Edward Gray, a respectable merchant, whose name frequently occurs in the old records of Plymouth. He made his mark for his name, as was not uncommon in those days. By habits of industry and good management, he gained the character of a respectable merchant,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Michael Peirse was appointed ensign of a company raised in Plymouth Colony to go against the Dutch, in December, 1673, and captain of the company raised in the spring of 1675-6 as hereinafter told. It may be said here that as this was a Plymouth Colony Company, the lists of credits of the Treasurer, which are nearly complete for Massachusetts Colony, are not found as yet in Plymouth or Connecticut, so that we have to depend upon chance lists found here and there, and the lists of " Narraganset
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.
Born hereWilliam Paul Fife is born here
In the archiveRPPC 1933-07-11 Main St North Plymouth Ind A
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereMorgan Uceny is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Plymouth. 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 Plymouth.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Plymouth’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 1,277 people in 1860 to 10,214 in 2020, 7 times over.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Plymouth’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Plymouth post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Plymouth is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #109 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.
8 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Plymouth Fire Station (listed 1981, the first), 3 historic districts, the Plymouth Northside Historic District, the Plymouth Southside Historic District and the Plymouth Downtown Historic District, with 241 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 245 historic buildings in all.
24% of Plymouth’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (8), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
1933
2012
2010
2009
2005
