The story
Read it all →How Washington Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Washington Township.
The Dr. Richard Davis House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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History · Washington Township
17% of Washington Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 39% of U.S. towns · #431 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1962 on, and old-book passages.
0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
10old photos & papers
Quick answers
About Washington Township’s history
How historic is Washington Township?
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What drives the grade ↓More historic than 39% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Washington Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Washington Township is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #431 of 593 in Indiana. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Washington Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194017.1% of homes (±8.0) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%BNational 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 39%
NewerOlder
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 27%
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 Washington 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 (±8.0 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 Washington Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Another post office, Hanfield, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hanfield
Landess
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
HanfieldLandessShadeland
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Washington Township
FairviewHummel - LobdellSalem
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From the old history books
What they wrote about Washington Township in 1904
Passages that mention Washington Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Washington Township, Alameda County, California1904 · page 93Read the page →
Read the text
D. D. Henion, who is a comparatively late comer to Warm Springs, is, however, an old pioneer of Washington Township. He arrived in the valley in the fall of 1850, and located on the Chadbourne place between Centreville and Irvington. In 1853 he moved to Niles, where he lived first on the Clough place and later on the H. G. Ellsworth place until April 4, 1873, when he moved to Warm Springs.
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
Washington Township, 1881 to 1962
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Washington Township, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1940s10 items
1941Boys walking fence. Washington, Indiana
1941Boys walking fence. Washington, Indiana
1941Farm boys eating ice-cream cones. Washington, Indiana
1941Farm boys eating ice-cream cones. Washington, Indiana
1941Untitled photo, possibly related to: Boys walking fen…
1941Untitled photo, possibly related to: Boys walking fen…
1941John W. Dillard, real estate and insurance man. Washi…
1941Office of John W. Dillard, real estate and insurance …
1941Untitled photo, possibly related to: Farm boys eating…
1941Untitled photo, possibly related to: Farm boys eating…1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your albumOn the map
Washington Township on the map, 1962 to 1992
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Washington Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1962Van Buren 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 Washington 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 viewBoys walking fence. Washington, Indiana, 1941
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Washington Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Washington Township
Nobody well known was born in Washington Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
T
Thomas Francis, Jr.American physician, virologist, and epidemiolog… · b. 1900
M
Mary Eleanor SpearStatistician · b. 1897Help out
Finish Washington Township’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Washington Township’s history
How does Washington Township rank for history?
Washington Township is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #431 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 Washington Township?
17% of Washington Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.0 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1968.
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 (10), Wikipedia, 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.