Portage’s post office opened in 1961, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 20% of U.S. towns · #538 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Most of Portage was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 3 buildings. Below: maps from 1940 on and the census since 1950.
The Portage post office opened in 1961, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1967. Two smaller post offices, Crisman (1871) and McCool (1884), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 2,116 in 19502020 census: 37,92665 years
How historic is Portage?
C−
More historic than 20% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Portage post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1967.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Portage’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Portage is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #538 of 593 in Indiana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Portage’s overall grade.
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 Portage’s 0.8 sits near the middle of its state (45% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share (±1.3 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1967 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Portage’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Prior to European settlement, Native Americans lived in Northwest Indiana. Mound Builders left a mound in the area now known as McCool, though the mound was destroyed in the early 1900s. Following the Mound Builders, the Wea tribe inhabited the area. The Wea were forced south by the Potawatomi.
Jacques Marquette, Louis Jolliet, Louis Hennepin or François Pétis de la Croix may have explored the area. Potawatomi chief, Leopold Pokagon, encouraged his tribe to sell tribal lands to European settlers. In 1812, Garyton became one of the first communities in Portage Township.
Passages that mention Portage, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A Standard history of Portage County, Wisconsin1919 · page 26Read the page →
Read the text
Portage County of 1836 and 1856 There has been more or less confusion in the mind of the average resident of Central and Northern Wisconsin as to the original political and territorial composition of Portage and Columbia counties. The cause for this state of mind has been that the Portage County, as set off from Brown in 1836, was co-extensive with the Columbia County of today; that in 1841 the Territorial Legislature so enlarged the bounds of Portage County as to include in its area thepresent coun¬
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A Standard history of Portage County, Wisconsin1919 · page 85Read the page →
Read the text
In 1846 Columbia County was set off with limits almost identical with those of Portage, as taken from Brown County in 1836. Adams County was set off in 1848, Marathon in 1850, and Wood in 1856, leaving Portage with its present constitutional limits. It is about thirty miles square, would be exactly so but that three townships were nicked off on the southwest to be put into Wood County. It now con¬ tains, according to public survey, towns 24 and 25, north, in range 6 east, and towns 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25, north, in ranges 7, 8, 9 and
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.
Timeline
Portage, 1871 to 2000
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Portage post office opened in 1961, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1967.
How does Portage rank for history?
Portage is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #538 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 Portage?
One place: the West Beach Historic District (listed 2025).
How old are the homes in Portage?
5% of Portage’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (1), 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.
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