Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 97% of U.S. towns. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 55 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1898 on, and the census since 1880.
Warren dates its founding to 1837 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 97% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Warren is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age 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 Warren’s 432 sits above most of its state (94% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 55 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 →
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 Warren’s history is told.
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.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1898Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Warren.
Warren, originally known as "Jonesboro," was platted in 1833 near the Indianapolis & Ft. Wayne Road. In 1837, founder Samuel Jones sold his first lot. The name was later changed due to there being another town of Jonesboro nearby, south of Marion. The town experienced growth in 1878 when a new railroad line was built through the neighborhood.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Warren, cut from the printed page as they were published.
In 1853, there were twenty-three schoolhouses in Warren County, and in 1878 there were eighty-three. A few frame schoolhouses were erected in the thirties, and quite a number in the forties; but for all the long period up to about 1854 log schoolhouses were decidedly the rule.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Warren Borough was laid out by General William Irvine and Andrew Ellicott about 1795 and incorporated April April 3, 1882. Stephen Gilson, son of Gideon, was the first white child born in the town. Another of the first settlers was David Jackson, a native of Connecticut, but he came from Ithaca, N. Y., to this place in 1797 and settled on what was later known as the Wetmore Farm; he came by way of Buffalo and Erie to Waterford and thence by canoe down
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
October 27, 1842; in Warren County, Pa. He came with his uncles Nathan and Micah Putnam to Warren County, in 1801 ; he enlisted in the Erie County Militia, War of 1812; served as ensign, and was later promoted to colonel;
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.
Born hereBob Stocksdale is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Warren. 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 Warren.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Warren’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 503 and 1,523 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Warren’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
In 1837, according to Wikidata. Warren’s post office opened in 1839, and the census of 1880 counted 503 people here.
Warren is more historic than 97% 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 Warren Downtown Historic District (listed 2022).
44% of Warren’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.3 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1957.
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 Wikimedia Commons (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
Date?