Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Dr. George W. Thompson House, the Vurpillat's Opera House and the Pulaski County Courthouse. Its Register listings are the Dr. George W. Thompson House, the Vurpillat's Opera House and the Pulaski County Courthouse. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1904 on.
The Winamac post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Winnimack (1839), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Winamac is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age 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 Winamac’s 20.2 sits above most of its state (67% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% 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 Winamac’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Winamac.
The town's name came from the Potawatomi word for "catfish." It was selected as the county seat in 1839. Winamac was incorporated as a town in 1868.
Pulaski County Courthouse, Dr. George W. Thompson House, and Vurpillat's Opera House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Winamac’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.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Winamac’s post office has been open since 1861. Another post office, Winnimack, 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).
The Winamac post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Winamac is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns. 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.
Three places: the Dr. George W. Thompson House (listed 1984), the Vurpillat's Opera House (2002) and the Pulaski County Courthouse (2007).
31% of Winamac’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1956.
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 Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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