From Van Buren Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Van Buren Township began
When was Van Buren Township founded?
1872
The Van Buren Township post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Farrville (1887), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 124 in 18802020 census: 1,836154 years
How historic is Van Buren Township?
B−
More historic than 52% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Van Buren Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Van Buren Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Van Buren Township is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Van Buren 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 Van Buren 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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±11.1 points). 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 Van Buren Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Joseph Boxell platted Van Buren Township in 1837. Martin Van Buren was the United States president at the time. In 1843 George H. D. Rood settled here and the creek that runs through the town was called Roods Run. As the area grew and developed it was called many names including Roods Corner, Roods Town, Roods Crossroads and Stringtown. In 1888 C.W. platted the area and it was known as Van Buren. In June 1892 the town became incorporated by the state of Indiana.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Van Buren Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1962Van Buren 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 Van Buren Township.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewVan-buren-indiana-from-above
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Van Buren Township’s page.
The Van Buren Township post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Van Buren Township rank for history?
Van Buren Township is more historic than 52% 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.
How old are the homes in Van Buren Township?
38% of Van Buren Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.1 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1955.
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 Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
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