Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 42% of U.S. towns · #418 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
Most of West Creek Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: maps from 1984 on and the census since 1890.
The West Creek Township post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, West Creek (1837), Creston (1882) and Illinoi (1900), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 42% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, West Creek Township is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #418 of 593 in Indiana. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 West Creek 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.
Founding year: the first post office (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 West Creek 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).
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 SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of West Creek Township.
West Creek Township was founded in 1839. It took its name from the westernmost of three large streams in the vicinity.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention West Creek Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Crestox Creston also received its name as a stiition on the Alonon line when it was completed through the southwestern and western portions of the county in 1882. The station itself is in West Creek Township, but quite a number of families Avhich form the settlement reside over the line in Cedar Creek Township. It is situated about a mile south of Red Cedar Lake and half a mile west of the early center, where in 1849 or 1850 there was a store, a postoffiee. a IJacksmith shop and a schoolhouse. The
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Pioneer Schoolhouses The first schoolhouse in West Creek Township was built of logs in 1838, near the Torrey bridge, being erected by the people of the neighborhood. That was the school taught by Miss Jackson for $1 per week and "board 'round." The log cabin fulfilled its mission for ten years, when the second schoolhouse was built in Clark Grove, northwest of the present West Creek building.
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.
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 West Creek 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 West Creek Township.
Grew from 1,201 people in 1890 to 7,676 in 2020, 6 times over.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on West Creek Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in West Creek Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The West Creek Township post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
West Creek Township is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #418 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.
7% of West Creek Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1994.
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 Wikipedia, 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 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.
