Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Rutherford Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Rutherford Township

12% of Rutherford Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 1890.

0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
Photo: Evking22 · CC BY-SA 4.0

What stands out about Rutherford Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Rutherford Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Rutherford Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
The story so far

Rutherford Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Rutherford Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Rutherford Township is one of six townships in Martin County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 675 and it contained 316 housing units.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 760 to 675 (-11%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Rutherford Township, 1861 to 1956

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1861Post officeThe South Martin post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1903Post officeThe South Martin post office closes
  5. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Rutherford Township, decade by decade

On the map

Rutherford Township on the map, 1956 to 1978

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rutherford Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Rutherford Township on the 1956 USGS mapRutherford Township on the 1978 USGS map1956Alfordsville sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Rutherford Township.

People over time

Rutherford Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,218

Between 632 and 1,218 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Rutherford Township’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Rutherford Township

Nobody well known was born in Rutherford Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Another post office, South Martin, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
South Martin
1cemetery inside Rutherford Township
Holtsclaw

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Questions about Rutherford Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (13), 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.