Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 14% of U.S. towns · #572 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Most of Roselawn was built recently: 0.8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1959 on.
Roselawn dates its founding to 1882 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree).
More historic than 14% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Roselawn is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #572 of 593 in Indiana. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls 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 Roselawn’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: Wikidata (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 Roselawn’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Roselawn.
Roselawn was laid out in 1882. The community's name is an amalgamation of the names of early merchants Orlando Rose and Lon Craig. A post office has been in operation at Roselawn since 1881.
On October 31, 1994, American Eagle Flight 4184 crashed near Roselawn, killing all 64 passengers and four crew members aboard.
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.
In the archiveRoselawn, Indiana
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Roselawn. 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 Roselawn.
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 Roselawn’s page.
Retake this view · +15Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1882, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town.
Roselawn is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #572 of 593 in Indiana. 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.
0.8% of Roselawn’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1987.
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 Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people 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.
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