Rushville’s post office opened in 1822, and 45% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns · #50 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
8 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 54 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: the first Rushville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Rushville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rushville is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #50 of 593 in Indiana. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Rushville’s overall grade.
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 Rushville’s 104 sits above most of its state (82% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 63 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.0 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 Rushville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Rushville, building by building, 1887–1913
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.
Rush County was formed from the unorganized Delaware County April 1, 1822. On July 29 town lots were sold and the town started to form. A school had already been started in 1821 by Dr. W.B. Laughlin, who was a member of the Legislature when the county was formed, and is considered the founding father of the town. A jail was built, Charles Veeder, was the first postmaster in 1822, and a courthouse was built in 1823. The Dog Fennel Gazette was published in 1823. The railroad was built in 1850 and after that a bank, factories, mills, and grain elevators sprang up.
Rushville was the campaign headquarters for Wendell Willkie's 1940 presidential campaign against Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Willkie is buried in the city's East Hill Cemetery.
Passages that mention Rushville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Rush County, Indiana, from the earliest time to the present1888 · page 310Read the page →
Read the text
Since i860, there have been constructed on all the principal thoroughfares leading out of Rushville, as well as on many of the cross roads in various parts of the county, gravel roads, of which the following is a list of the most important: Rushville and Vienna, Rushville, Raysville and Knightstown, Rushville and INIilroy, Falmouth and Lewisville, Fayetteville and Andersonville, Fairview and Fayetteville, Fa5'etteville and Rushville, Hamilton Station, Rushville and Smeltzer's Mill, Rushville and Arlington, Lewisville and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
history of rush county, indiana1888 · page 310Read the page →
Read the text
built and operated, but after a few years were abandoned as im- _ practicable. tthe VR Since 1860, there have been constructed on all the principal thoroughfares leading out of Rushville, as well as on many of the cross roads in various parts of the county, gravel roads, of which the following is a list of the most important: Rushville and Vienna, - Rushville, Raysville and Knightstown, Rushville and Milroy, Falmouth and Lewisville, Fayetteville and Andersonville, Fairview and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
history of rush county, indiana1888 · page 831Read the page →
Read the text
Rushville.— The City of Rushville was the scene of the earliest schools in the county. Scarcely had the smoke began to ascend from the first settler’s cabin in the surrounding forest ere arrangements had been commenced to educate the pioneer youth. Dr.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Centennial history of Rush County, Indiana1921 · page 270Read the page →
Read the text
farm from his father and directing its operation, and for twelve years was thus engaged. In 1896 he moved from that place to another farm, but eighteen months later disposed of his farming interests and moved to Rushville, where he became engaged in the livery business. This did not prove to his liking, however, and eighteen months later he sold his livery barn and bought a farm of seventy-two acres in Rushville township, which place he presently sold and then bought an "eighty" of the old home place in Washington township and there
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.
Timeline
Rushville, 1822 to 1959
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Rushville’s history
What year was Rushville founded?
The Rushville post office opened in 1822, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Rushville rank for history?
Rushville is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #50 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.
What is on the National Register in Rushville?
8 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Melodeon Hall (listed 1973, the first), and 1 historic district, the Rushville Commercial Historic District, with 54 contributing buildings. 63 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Rushville?
45% of Rushville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1945.
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 (23), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (8), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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