Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 29% of U.S. towns · #485 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Its Register listings are the John W. McClain House. Most of Washington Township was built recently: 0.9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. Its Register listings are the John W. McClain House. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1953 on, and old-book passages.
More historic than 29% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Washington Township is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #485 of 593 in Indiana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 1.5 sits near the middle of its state (47% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 9 historic buildings outnumber those of 75% 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 →
From Wikipedia’s history of Washington Township.
The John W. McClain House, A.A. Parsons Farmstead, and Smith Farm are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Washington Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The Suburban Electric Light Co. was incorporated June 14, 1901, with a capital of $500,000. It distributes light and power throughout Alameda County, including as a matter of course all the towns and homes in Washington Township. This Company secures its power from the Standard Electric Company and from the Bay Counties Company.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
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.
The first settlement in Washington Township was made in the northeast corner, near Shiloh Church, by Eobert Wilson, Gideon Wilson and Elish Kise, in the year 1822. The next year Daniel Tryer, Aaron Homan, the Griggses, Joseph Fausett and others, came into the same neighborhood and in the same year, 1823, James Dunn, John Givens, Abner Dunn — for whom Abner's Creek, was named — and some others, settled on the west side of the township on Abner's Creek. James Dunn settled on the Isham
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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…Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Washington 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 Washington Township.
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 Washington Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Washington Township is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #485 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.
2 listings: 1 building, among them the John W. McClain House (listed 2004, the first). 9 historic buildings in all.
0.9% of Washington Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 2002.
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 Library of Congress (10), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
