Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1955 on, and the census since 1880.
West Harrison dates its founding to 1813 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
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 Harrison’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of West Harrison.
Settlers at West Harrison found numerous mounds constructed by Indians. West Harrison was laid out in 1813, the same year its twin city of Harrison, Ohio, was founded.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveAtlas of Dearborn County, Indiana - to which is added a map of the state of Indiana, also…
Born hereLonnie Mack is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyPassages that mention West Harrison, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The town of West Harrison joins onto the state line and is separated from Harrison, Ohio, by State street which is directly on the line dividing Indiana from Ohio. It was laid out in 1813 by John Allen and Peter Hanan. It is given a population of two hundred and eighty-one by the census of 1910. The town was evidently laid out on the site of a mound builders’ city if the numer¬ ous mounds and other relics of this pre-historic race are any evidence. An emigrants’ directory, published in 1817, speaking of these evidences of a pre¬ vious race living here says : “The traces of ancient population cover the earth
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
and just south of the sections entered by Wilkins. On August 22, 1801, Cave Johnson entered a portion of section 13, township 7, range 1. On December 8, 1801, William Allensworth and William Ramsy entered the balance of the section. This is the section on which the town of West Harrison now stands. On August 13, 1801, John Brown entered another piece of ground in section 9, township 7, range 1, and on September 16, 1801, Bayliss Ashby entered part of section 14, same township. These sections lie along the Whitewater near the mouth of Logan creek.
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 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of West Harrison. 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 Harrison.
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 West Harrison’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 258 and 395 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on West Harrison’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1813, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1880 counted 290 people here.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
1875
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2016
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