Sugar Creek Township’s post office opened in 1834, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns · #341 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Most of Sugar Creek Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Its Register listing is the Rufus and Amanda Black House. Below: maps from 1953 on.
The Sugar Creek Township post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Deer Creek (1828), Philadelphia (1838) and Gem (1877), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 16,495192 years
How historic is Sugar Creek Township?
B
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Sugar Creek Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Sugar Creek Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sugar Creek Township is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #341 of 593 in Indiana. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Sugar Creek Township’s overall grade.
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 Sugar Creek Township’s 0.6 sits near the middle of its state (45% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±2.8 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 Sugar Creek Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Sugar Creek Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Sugar Creek Township is one of fourteen townships in Shelby County, Indiana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,086 and it contained 412 housing units. Sugar Creek Township was organized in 1840. The community took its name from Sugar Creek, which flows southward in the area just west of the community.
Its first post office opened in 1834. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 14,920 to 16,495 (+11%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sugar Creek Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1953Acton 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 Sugar Creek Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Sugar Creek Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
The Sugar Creek Township post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Sugar Creek Township rank for history?
Sugar Creek Township is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #341 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 Sugar Creek Township?
One place: the Rufus and Amanda Black House (listed 2014).
How old are the homes in Sugar Creek Township?
8% of Sugar Creek Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.8 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
