Founding year: the first Putnamville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Putnamville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Putnamville is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Putnamville’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 Putnamville’s 5.1 sits near the middle of its state (54% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Putnamville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Putnamville was laid out in 1830. The community took its name from Putnam County. A post office called Putnamville has been in operation since 1832. The community was pioneered by James Townsend and his recently emancipated slaves.
Some historians group the early Townsends of Putnamville into the "Black Townsends" (emancipated persons who assumed James Townsend's surname) and the "White Townsends" (biological relatives of James Townsend). The Townsend/Layman Museum in Putnamville is named after Townsend.
The Black Townsends were the first Black settlers in Putnam County, Indiana.
The Putnamville post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Putnamville rank for history?
Putnamville is more historic than 48% 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 Putnamville?
2% of Putnamville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1987.
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 and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
