The story
Read it all →How St. Joseph Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of St. Joseph Township.
The Martin Blume Jr. Farm was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C+History
History · St. Joseph Township
St. Joseph Township’s post office opened in 1851, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 41% of U.S. towns · #422 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Martin Blume Jr. Farm. Most of St. Joseph Township was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: maps from 1956 on and old-book passages.
1851first post office
2on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How St. Joseph Township began
When was St. Joseph Township founded?
1851
The St. Joseph Township post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Thurman (1888), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 76,266175 years
How historic is St. Joseph Township?
C+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 41% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first St. Joseph Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives St. Joseph Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, St. Joseph Township is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #422 of 593 in Indiana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of St. Joseph Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1851, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19401.5% of homes (±0.6) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register2 listings, 185 historic buildings, 23.8 per 10,000 residents · typical IN town 7.9 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 41%
NewerOlder
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 29%
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 St. Joseph Township’s 23.8 sits above most of its state (68% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 185 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share (±0.6 points) is firm at this size. 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 St. Joseph 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 St. Joseph Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how St. Joseph Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.From the old history books
What they wrote about St. Joseph Township in 1880
Passages that mention St. Joseph Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Allen County, Indiana.1880Read the page →
Read the text
He cut his way into the wilds of St. Joseph Township, in the month of October, 1833, and there fixed his abode, selecting and purchasing a piece of land on Section 20, during the ensuing winter, and, before the month of February, he had hewn the logs and completed a comfortable cabin, ready for its occupants. Like others of his time, he came, hoping that among its cheap lands he might find a home whereon patient toil would yield greater results than in the older settlements. And this motive was well founded.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Allen County, Indiana1880Read the page →
Read the text
He out his way into the wilds of St. Joseph Township, in the month of October, 1833, and there fixed his abode, selecting and purchasing a piece of land on Seotion 20, during the ensuing winter, and, before the month of February, he had hewn the logs and completed a comfortable oabin, ready for its occupants. Like others of his time, ho came, hoping that among its oheap lands he might find a home whereon patient toil would yield greater results than in the older settlements. And this motive was well founded.
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
St. Joseph Township, 1888 to 1956
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1888Post officeThe Thurman post office opens
- 1899Post officeThe Thurman post office closes
- 20th century
- 1956
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
St. Joseph Township, decade by decade
Today1 recent
2014On the map
St. Joseph Township on the map, 1956 to 1981
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of St. Joseph Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1956Cedarville 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 St. Joseph Township.
On the National Register
2 listings protect 185 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
185
each building in a district counts
first listed
2006
Martin Blume Jr. Farm
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Late Victorian1
Italianate1
English Barn1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to St. Joseph Township
Nobody well known was born in St. Joseph Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
B
Bruce NaumanAmerican sculptor and performance artist · b. 1941
Places that used to be
Lost post offices and old corners
Another post office, Thurman, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Thurman
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 St. Joseph Township’s history
What year was St. Joseph Township founded?
The St. Joseph Township post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does St. Joseph Township rank for history?
St. Joseph Township is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #422 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 St. Joseph Township?
2 listings: 1 building, among them the Martin Blume Jr. Farm (listed 2006, the first). 185 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in St. Joseph Township?
2% of St. Joseph Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 Wikimedia Commons (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.