Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1901 on, and the census since 1860.
The Roanoke post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Roanoke is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Roanoke’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Roanoke’s history is told.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1901Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveSheep on farm near Roanoke, Indiana
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Roanoke.
Once the hunting and fishing grounds of the Miami Indians, Roanoke became a prosperous commercial center in the mid-19th century. Kiilhsoohkwa (meaning "sun-woman"), the granddaughter of Chief Little Turtle, lived in Roanoke and was known by locals as “the last of the Miami tribe.”
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Roanoke, cut from the printed page as they were published.
When the Town of Mahon was laid out in 1853 a spirited rivalry immediately began between that place and Roanoke. Mahon was for¬ tunate enough to secure a station on the Wabash Railroad and for a time the Roanoke people had to go to Mahon to ‘Hake a train.” The cholera scare of 1854, when a few deaths occurred in Roanoke, also gave the town a backset for a little while, but it soon recovered, and after a depot was established by the railroad company Roanoke’s supremacy over Mahon became a settled fact.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
About the time the Town of Roanoke was laid out by George A. Chapman, a class of Methodists was organized at the Center schoolhouse, about two miles west. Among the members of this class were Thomas Hackett, who had previously assisted in establishing the Wesley Chapel congregation, William Payton, David Seibert, J. P. Christie and David Roberts and their wives, and Mr. and Mrs. Yahne. For five or six years meetings were held in the schoolhouse where the class was organ¬ ized, at the end of which time the upper story of the seminary building
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Toicn of Roanoke. — The Town of Roanoke is situated in Sections 14, 15 and 28, Township 29 north. Range 10 east, and dates its history from about the year 1847 or '48, The town was an outgrowth of the Wabash & Erie Canal, and early became not only a prominent shipping point, but also the chief source of supplies for a large area of territory in Huntington, Allen and Whitley Counties, being at that time the principal trading place between Fort Wayne and the town of Wabash. The construction of the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Roanoke. 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 Roanoke.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Roanoke’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 270 people in 1860 to 1,762 in 2020, 6 times over.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Roanoke’s Wikipedia page.
The Roanoke post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Roanoke is more historic than 56% 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.
16% of Roanoke’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1991.
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 Library of Congress (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1936
1936
1936
