Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns · #323 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 48 buildings. Below: maps from 1899 on and the census since 1880.
Scottsburg dates its founding to 1871 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Scottsburg is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #323 of 593 in Indiana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age 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 Scottsburg’s 67.9 sits above most of its state (78% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 50 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% 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 Scottsburg’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
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.
1899Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Scottsburg.
Scottsburg was platted in 1871. The city was named for Horace Scott, a railroad official. A post office has been in operation at Scottsburg since 1873.
The Scott County Home, Scottsburg Courthouse Square Historic District, and Scottsburg Depot are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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.
Born hereHubert Buchanan is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Scottsburg. 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 Scottsburg.
Grew from 454 people in 1880 to 7,345 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Scottsburg’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
In 1871, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Scottsburg’s post office opened in 1873, and the census of 1880 counted 454 people here.
Scottsburg is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #323 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.
Three places: the Scottsburg Depot (listed 1991), the Scott County Home (2000) and the Scottsburg Courthouse Square Historic District (2003).
12% of Scottsburg’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 1983.
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 (7), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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