Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns · #16 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 119 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1962 on.
Among the most historic 1% 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 among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #16 of 593 in Indiana. All 2 inputs put Union Township near the top nationally; its National Register listings ranks highest.
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 522 sits above most of its state (95% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 147 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% 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 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.
Five 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).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Union Township’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Union Township.
Union Township was organized in 1840. It was likely named after Union County, Indiana, the former home of some of the early settlers.
The East Shore Historic District and Norris Farm-Maxinkuckee Orchard are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Woodbank was delisted in 2014.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings 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.
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 among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #16 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.
4 listings: 2 historic districts, the East Shore Historic District and the Norris Farm-Maxinkuckee Orchard, with 119 contributing buildings. 147 historic buildings in all.
33% of Union Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1968.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.
