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History · Union Township

31% of Union Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1956 on and old-book passages.

0on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Union Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Union Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Union Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Union Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Union Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Little Blue River
1830–1851
Rays Crossing
1870–1943
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Rays Crossing
Gone or out of use
Parkinson Airportairport
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Union Township
BennettDewitt

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Union Township, in brief

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 fourteen townships in Shelby County, Indiana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 970 and it contained 395 housing units. Union Township was organized in 1822 and reorganized with its present borders in 1840.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 970 to 920 (-5%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Union Township in 1887

Passages that mention Union Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.

The German Evangelical Protestant. — Zion Church, which is located in the southern part of Union Township, was . organized in 1836, and incorporated ten years later. The meetings were held in the residences of members and in the neighborhood schoolhouse, until 1845, when a small log church house wa…
History of Shelby County, Indiana1887 · page 396Read the page →
Read the text

The German Evangelical Protestant. — Zion Church, which is located in the southern part of Union Township, was . organized in 1836, and incorporated ten years later. The meetings were held in the residences of members and in the neighborhood schoolhouse, until 1845, when a small log church house was erected near the site of the present building. Among the early members and these who were prominent in the organization, the following may be especially mentioned: George M. Haehl, John J. Haehl, Con-

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.

Timeline

Union Township, 1830 to 1956

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1830Post officeThe Little Blue River post office opens
  3. 1851Post officeThe Little Blue River post office closes
  4. 1870Post officeThe Rays Crossing post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1943Post officeThe Rays Crossing post office closes
  7. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.
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On the map

Union Township on the map, 1956 to 1981

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Union Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Union Township on the 1956 USGS mapUnion Township on the 1981 USGS map1956Rays Crossing 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 Union Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Union Township

Nobody well known was born in Union Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Wilbur ShawAmerican racing driver · b. 1902
R
Roger SliferAmerican comic book writer, screenwriter, and t… · b. 1954
Margaret Hill McCarterTeacher, writer · b. 1890
Mike PhippsAmerican football player · b. 1947
W
Wilfred SmithAmerican football player · b. 1899
W
William Victor HigginsAmerican painter · b. 1884
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Marion TownshipIts storyB−Liberty Township2 historic placesAHanover Township1 historic placeA−Addison Township9 historic placesA+Posey Township1 historic placeAOrange Township4 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Union Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

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 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.