The story
Read it all →How Ray Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Ray Township.
The Blankenship-Hodges-Brown House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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History · Ray Township
34% of Ray Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: maps from 1957 on.
1on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
About Ray Township’s history
How historic is Ray Township?
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What drives the grade ↓More historic than 84% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Ray Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ray Township is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ray Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194034.1% of homes (±10.9) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register1 listing, 7.1 per 10,000 residents · typical IN town 7.9 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 84%
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 Ray Township’s 7.1 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±10.9 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 Ray 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 Ray Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ray 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
Ray Township, 1883 to 1957
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1883Post officeThe Whitaker post office opens
- 20th century
- 1937Post officeThe Whitaker post office closes
- 1957
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Ray Township, decade by decade
Today1 recent
2024On the map
Ray Township on the map, 1957 to 1980
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ray Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1957Paragon 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 Ray Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Ray Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Ray Township
Nobody well known was born in Ray Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, Whitaker, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Potato MoundWhitaker
Gone or out of use
Porter Cave Quarrymine
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ray Township
Friendship ParkGossStierwalt
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 Ray Township’s history
How does Ray Township rank for history?
Ray Township is more historic than 84% 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 Ray Township?
34% of Ray Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.9 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 Wikimedia Commons (1), 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.