Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 63% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1953 on and old-book passages.
The Union Township post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Rainstown (1872) and Montclair (1880), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 63% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Union Township is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Union 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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Union Township’s history is told.
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Union Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Union Township is one of twelve townships in Hendricks County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,856.
Its first post office opened in 1828. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,856 to 1,818 (-2%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Union Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
years in Middle Township, when he returned to his native State, remaining there one year. He then dived a short time in Cass County, Mo., and in 1858 returned to this county and settled in Union Township. Being a man of remarkable energy and indus¬ try he converted what was at the time of his settlement a 6wamp into a good yielding farm. He added to his original property from time to time until, at the time of his death, he owned 580 acres.
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Union Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Union Township.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Union Township post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Union Township is more historic than 63% 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.
22% of Union 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.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 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.
