Steele Township was organized in 1835 out of what had been northern Washington Township. It was settled later than most other Daviess County townships—the earliest settlers in the county were primarily hillfolk from Tennessee, Kentucky, and the Carolinas; they were unfamiliar with the bottomland prevalent in the township, and folklore of the day held that malaria was far more prevalent in lowlands. The first settlement was made around 1820; in the township's earliest years, it was isolated by poor transportation, but the construction of the Wabash and Erie Canal led to an economic boom for a short time, before the canal was abandoned.
Passages that mention Steele Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Knox and Daviess County, Indiana1886 · page 708Read the page →
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The completion of the new railroad, the Evansville & Indianapolis, through Daviess County has given the village of Plainville, in Steele Township, ten miles as the crow flies north of Washington, quite a business boom, and a number of new buildings were erected in the fall of 1885. Plainville is on the line of the old Wabash & Erie Canal, and was quite an important business point twenty-eight years ago, with a number of stores and a good flouring-mill. It went down, however, like hundreds
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Steele Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1943Plainville 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 Steele Township.
Famous people
Famous people close to Steele Township
Nobody well known was born in Steele Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
