The story
Read it all →How Preble Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Preble Township.
A post office was established in Preble in 1883. The community was named after Preble Township.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C+History
History · Preble Township
20% of Preble Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1962 on.
0on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
About Preble Township’s history
How historic is Preble Township?
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What drives the grade ↓More historic than 44% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Preble Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Preble Township is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Preble Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194019.8% of homes (±11.2) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%B+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IN town 7.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 44%
NewerOlder
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 Preble Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (22% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±11.2 points).
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 Preble 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 Preble Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Preble Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Preble Township, 1883 to 1962
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1883Post officeThe Magley post office opens
- 20th century
- 1927Post officeThe Magley post office closes
- 1962
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
Preble Township on the map, 1962 to 1986
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Preble Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1962Preble 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 Preble Township.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Another post office, Magley, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
MagleyPreble
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Preble Township
Saint John LutheranSalem
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Preble Township’s history
How does Preble Township rank for history?
Preble Township is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns. 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.
How old are the homes in Preble Township?
20% of Preble Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.2 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1968.
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 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.