The story
Read it all →How Smithfield Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Smithfield Township.
Smithfield Township was named for Isaac B. Smith, a pioneer settler.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B−History
History · Smithfield Township
Smithfield Township’s post office opened in 1862, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1957 on and old-book passages.
1862first post office
0on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Smithfield Township began
When was Smithfield Township founded?
1862
The Smithfield Township post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Smithfield (1862) and Summit (1871), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,662164 years
How historic is Smithfield Township?
B−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 48% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Smithfield Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Smithfield Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Smithfield Township is more historic than 48% 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 Smithfield Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1862, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194030.5% of homes (±10.6) · 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 48%
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 Smithfield 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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.6 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 Smithfield 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 Smithfield Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Smithfield Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Smithfield
Summit
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Summit
Gone or out of use
Brand Sand Pitmine
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Smithfield Township
Barkers ChapelCedar Lake
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From the old history books
What they wrote about Smithfield Township in 1885
Passages that mention Smithfield Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of DeKalb County, Indiana1885Read the page →
Read the text
Thomas Hamman, one of the most successful farmers and stock-raisers of De Kalb Countv, bought his farm on section 16, Smithfield Township, in the fall of 1847. The next April he began clearing his land which was heavily timbered, ami the same year began the erection of a dwelling which he finished in the spring 01 1849. This was the first frame house in Smithfield Township. It is 18x30 feet in size, with 13-li.
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
Smithfield Township, 1862 to 1957
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 albumOn the map
Smithfield Township on the map, 1957 to 1973
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Smithfield Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1957Waterloo sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Smithfield Township.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Smithfield Township
Nobody well known was born in Smithfield Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Smithfield Township’s history
What year was Smithfield Township founded?
The Smithfield Township post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Smithfield Township rank for history?
Smithfield Township is more historic than 48% 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 Smithfield Township?
31% of Smithfield Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.6 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1977.
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, 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.