Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns · #3 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1960 on and old-book passages.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wayne Township is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #3 of 593 in Indiana. All 2 inputs put Wayne Township near the top nationally; its National Register listings ranks highest.
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 Wayne Township’s 1,313 sits above most of its state (99% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 543 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% 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 Wayne Township’s history is told.
Two 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 Wayne Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Wayne Township is one of thirteen townships in Henry County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 4,216 and it contains 1,828 housing units.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 4,216 to 4,115 (-2%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Wayne Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
River. Ephraim Chew was a practical farmer and soon after coming to the State bought land. Himself and wife died a little pior to the beginning of the Civil War and are buried in Elm Grove Cemetery, west of Spiceland, in Wayne Township. William Chew first established a home of his own near Ogden but afterwards moved to Greensboro Township, in 1851, and settled on a farm, a half mile west of the present town of Kennard. He was a public spirited man, highly esteemed and did much to build up and advance the interests of the community. He served as a Justice of the Peace for almost a quarter of a century.
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.
Weddings 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 Wayne 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 Wayne 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 Wayne Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Wayne Township is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #3 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.
40% of Wayne Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1955.
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 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.
