Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #329 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1961 on, and old-book passages.
Ross Township dates its founding to 1830 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1835.
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ross Township is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #329 of 593 in Indiana. 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 Ross 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.
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 Ross Township’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive20th century atlas of Clinton County, Indiana - containing maps of villages, cities and t…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Ross Township.
Ross was one of Clinton County's original townships created on May 15, 1830. Solomon Miller—who arrived in March 1828—was its first settler. According to a 1913 county history, a considerable number of the township's early settlers were Pennsylvania Germans and Dunkards.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Ross Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Ross Township was organized Saturday, May 15, 1830. Two others, Jackson and Washington, were organized on the same day. These three townships are consequently the oldest in the county.
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 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ross 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 Ross Township.
Nobody well known was born in Ross Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, Edna Mills, 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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1830, according to Wikidata. Ross Township’s post office opened in 1835.
Ross Township is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #329 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.
19% of Ross Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.
