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C+History
History · Republican Township

Republican Township’s post office opened in 1851, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 36% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 1890.

1851first post office
0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Republican Township began

When was Republican Township founded?

1851

The Republican Township post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Ramsey's Mills (1832), Swanville (1847) and Kent (1848), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 872 in 18902020 census: 1,600175 years

How historic is Republican Township?

C+

More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Republican Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Republican Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Republican Township is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Republican Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1851, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194017.0% of homes (±11.1) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%BNational 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 36%
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 Republican 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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±11.1 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 Republican Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Republican Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Republican Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Republican Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Republican Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Ramsey's Mills
1832–1848
Swanville
1847–1907
Kent
1848–1965
Republican
1851–1851
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
KentSwanville
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Republican Township
BlankenshipKentLandonLloydScotlandSlippery PointWhite River

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Republican Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Republican Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Republican Township is one of ten townships in Jefferson County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,600 and it contained 663 housing units. Republican Township was created on March 12, 1817, by the Jefferson County Common Pleas Court. It has had the following post offices, which are no longer in operation: Hargan (June 4, 1884 – July 29, 1898); Ramsey's Mills (Dec. 19, 1832-Jan. 14, 1848); Swanville (June 10, 1847-Oct. 23, 1866) and (Jan. 8, 1867-Jan. 15, 1907). There is no active post office in the township. Ramseys Mills Post Office was renamed Kent, which operated from Jan. 14, 1848 until March 26, 1965, when mail service was transferred to Madison. Its a…

Its first post office opened in 1851. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,599 in 2010, 1,600 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Republican Township, 1832 to 1965

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1832Post officeThe Ramsey's Mills post office opens
  3. 1847Post officeThe Swanville post office opens
  4. 1848Post officeThe Ramsey's Mills post office closes
  5. 1848Post officeThe Kent post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1907Post officeThe Swanville post office closes
  8. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1965Post officeThe Kent post office closes
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 album
On the map

Republican Township on the map, 1956 to 1988

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Republican Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Republican Township on the 1956 USGS mapRepublican Township on the 1988 USGS map1956Kent sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Republican Township.

People over time

Republican Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,600

Between 719 and 1,600 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Republican Township’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Graham TownshipIts storyB−Smyrna TownshipIts storyC−Hanover Township4 historic placesB−Saluda TownshipIts storyC+Lexington TownshipIts storyC+

Questions about Republican Township’s history

What year was Republican Township founded?

The Republican Township post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Republican Township rank for history?

Republican Township is more historic than 36% 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 Republican Township?

17% of Republican Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.1 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1975.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.