The story
Read it all →How Smith Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Smith Township.
Smith Township was organized in 1817. The township was named for George Smith, a pioneer settler.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
BHistory
History · Smith Township
35% of Smith Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1901 on and the census since 1890.
0on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
About Smith Township’s history
How historic is Smith Township?
B
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 61% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Smith Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Smith Township is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Smith Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194035.1% of homes (±11.7) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%ANational RegisterNo listings counted · typical IN town 7.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 61%
NewerOlder
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 Smith 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.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±11.7 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Smith 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 Smith Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Smith Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Smith Township on the map, 1901 to 1980
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Smith Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1901Haubstadt sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Smith Township.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Smith Township, 1882–1886
Passages that mention Smith Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History and directory of Posey County [Indiana]1882 · page 15Read the page →
Read the text
In the Spring of 1881 the citizens of Smith Township voted an appropriation of $8,468.30 (it being two per centum of the valuation of taxable property) to aid the Evansville & Terre Haute Railroad in the construction of its line from Owensville, in Gibson County, to Cynthiana. Work was immediately begun and the road was completed soon afterward. A vote for the appropriation of $55,293.80 in Black and Center Townships was taken and carried in October, 1881, to aid that company in extending its line from Cynthiana to Mt. Vernon, of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Posey County, Indiana1886 · page 408Read the page →
Read the text
He afterward moved to the Whiting property near the old Baptist Church. He kept tavern, the postoffice, and began selling tobacco and whisky in 1828. Charles Whiting was granted license to sell whisky in 1818. The first election in Smith Township was held in Cynthiana in 1818, at the house of Samuel C. Hiron. The firm of Craig & Pollard began business in Cynthiana on the Pollard corner in 1830, and continued in business about six years.
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.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumPeople over time
Smith Township, census by census
Between 1,065 and 1,479 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Smith Township’s Wikipedia page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Smith Township’s history
How does Smith Township rank for history?
Smith Township is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns. 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.
How old are the homes in Smith Township?
35% of Smith Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.7 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1948.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.