The story
Read it all →How Van Buren Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Van Buren Township.
Van Buren Township was organized in 1837, and named for president elect Martin Van Buren.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
CHistory
History · Van Buren Township
Half of Van Buren Township’s homes were built after 1996
More historic than 26% of U.S. towns · #504 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Most of Van Buren Township was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1961 on, and the census since 1920.
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Quick answers
About Van Buren Township’s history
How historic is Van Buren Township?
C
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 26% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
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 26% of U.S. towns, #504 of 593 in Indiana. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Van Buren Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19409.6% of homes (±5.6) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IN town 7.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 26%
NewerOlder
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 15%
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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.6 points).
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 →
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.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Van Buren Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Van Buren Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Scott
Seybert
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ScottSeyberts
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Van Buren Township
BartonBethelMackNew PennsylvaniaSidener
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Van Buren Township, 1837 to 1961
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Van Buren Township, decade by decade
Date unknown1 to date
Date?On the map
Van Buren Township on the map, 1961 to 1985
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.
1961Shipshewana sheet · 1:24,000U.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 Public Library, 115 South First Street
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Van Buren Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15People over time
Van Buren Township, census by census
Grew from 871 people in 1920 to 4,208 in 2020, 4 times over.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Van Buren Township’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Van Buren Township
Nobody well known was born in Van Buren Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Van Buren Township’s history
How does Van Buren Township rank for history?
Van Buren Township is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #504 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.
How old are the homes in Van Buren Township?
10% of Van Buren Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1996.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
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).
From 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.