Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 92% of U.S. towns. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them the West Union Bridge, a National Historic Landmark. Below: maps from 1955 on and the census since 1890.
More historic than 92% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Reserve Township is more historic than 92% 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.
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 Reserve Township’s 25.0 sits above most of its state (69% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Reserve Township’s history is told.
Peaked at 2,224 in 1910; 1,297 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Reserve Township’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Reserve Township.
Reserve Township was so named on account of its territory once being part of an Indian reservation.
The Melcher Covered Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltWest Union Bridge is built
BuiltMelcher Bridge is built
BuiltLeatherwood Station Bridge is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Reserve Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Reserve Township.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.
★ LandmarkNational Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Nobody well known was born in Reserve Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Reserve Township is more historic than 92% 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.
Three places: the West Union Bridge, the Leatherwood Station Bridge (1978) and the Melcher Bridge (1978).
37% of Reserve Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±14.1 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1963.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, 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.
