Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 88% of U.S. towns. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 7 buildings. Below: maps from 1952 on and the census since 1890.
More historic than 88% 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 88% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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 49.2 sits above most of its state (75% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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).
From Wikipedia’s history of Union Township.
Union Township was originally called Monroe Township, and under the latter name was organized in 1842. It was renamed Union Township in 1845.
The John and Minerva Kline Farm was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Union Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Mardenis About three miles east of Huntington, in Union Township, is a small station on the Wabash Railroad called Mardenis. It was first known as “Miner’s Switch,” and later as “Union Station.” William Mardenis was appointed agent for the railroad company and put in a stock of goods in connection with his duties as agent, after which the place took his name. Mardenis has two grain elevators and considerable stock, hay and grain are shipped from that point. Rural routes supply the place
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
included a strip six miles wide across the entire county, embracing the present townships of Polk and Rock Creek. On February 24, 1838, a strip six miles wide was cut off the north end and named Clear Creek Township. Union Township was cut off in 1842 and Dallas in 1847,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
As is well known Union Township is pre-eminently an agricultural district, and but few manufacturing enterprises have been attempted within its borders. The near proximity to sawmills on the Wabash and Little Rivers in adjoining townships afforded the early settlers means of obtaining lumber, and it was not until within a comparatively recent date that steam sawmills were brought to the township. The first mill of any kind was built by Andrew Branstrater on Flat Creek, near the eastern
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
As is well known Union Township is pre-eminently an agricultural district, and but few manufacturing enterprises have been attempted within its borders. The near proximity to sawmills on the Wabash and Little Rivers in adjoining townships afforded the early settlers means of obtaining lumber, and it was not until within a comparatively recent date that steam sawmills were brought to the township. The first mill of any kind wg,s built by Andrew Branstrater on Flat Creek, near the eastern
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born 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.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 1,020 and 1,552 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Union Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Union Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Union Township is more historic than 88% 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.
One place: the John and Minerva Kline Farm (listed 1988).
24% of Union Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.4 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 Wikimedia Commons (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
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