Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 89% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Ward Township District No. 5 School. Its Register listing is the Ward Township District No. 5 School. Below: maps from 1960 on and old-book passages.
More historic than 89% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ward Township is more historic than 89% 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 Ward Township’s 10.0 sits near the middle of its state (62% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 Ward Township’s history is told.
Three 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).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Ward Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Ward Township is one of eleven townships in Randolph County, Indiana. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,059 (down from 1,109 at 2010) and it contained 469 housing units.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,109 to 1,059 (-5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Ward Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The first settler in Ward Township is not now known. James Strain entered a section of land in 1816, but he is said never to have lived on the land. Fifteen entries were made in 1817, the first being Daniel Richardson, May 21, 1817, southwest quarter of 12, 21, 14, on Mississinewa River, northeast of John Key's.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The first settler in Ward Township is not now known. James Strain entered a section of land in 1816, but he is said never to have lived on the land. Fifteen entries were made in 1817, the first being Daniel Richardson, May 21, 1817, por ute of 12, 21, 14, on Mississinewa River, northeast of John Key’s.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The first settler in Ward Township is not now known. James Strain entered a section of land in 1816, but he is said never to have lived on the land. Fifteen entries were made in 1817, the first being Daniel Richardson, May 21, 1817, southwest quarter of 12, 21, 14, on Mississinewa River, northeast of John oe The first settler in Nettle Creek was probably John Burroughs, southwest of Losantville, in 1822. His widow is living there still.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Ward is bounded north by Jay County, east by Jackson, south by White lliver, west by Franklin. Ward Township was entered mostly between 1836 and 1838 inclusive, during which time an immense amoimt of land was purchased in Randolph County of the United States, and great numbers of families took up their abode within its limits. Among the chief settlers on the Mississinewa may bo named Burkett Pierce, Joab Ward, Elias Kizer, Daniel B. Miller, William Simmons, Messrs. Ritenour,
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.
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 Ward 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 Ward 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.
Nobody well known was born in Ward Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Ward Township is more historic than 89% 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 Ward Township District No. 5 School (listed 2017).
44% of Ward Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.9 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1951.
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 (1), 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.
