The story
Read it all →How Wolcottville came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Wolcottville.
Wolcottville was laid out in 1849. It was named for George Wolcott, who started a sawmill at the site in 1838.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
AHistory
History · Wolcottville
46% of Wolcottville’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 89% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the George and Margaret Wolcott House. Below: maps from 1947 on and the census since 1880.
1on the National Register
46%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Quick answers
Where Wolcottville’s name came from
How did Wolcottville get its name?
Wolcottville was named for George Wolcott, who started a sawmill at the site in 1838.
How historic is Wolcottville?
A
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 89% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Wolcottville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wolcottville is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Wolcottville’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194046.0% of homes (±12.2) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%A+National Register1 listing, 8.7 per 10,000 residents · typical IN town 7.9 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 89%
NewerOlder
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 Wolcottville’s 8.7 sits near the middle of its state (61% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±12.2 points).
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 →
What stands out about Wolcottville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Wolcottville’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Wolcottville’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.From the old history books
What they wrote about Wolcottville in 1902
Passages that mention Wolcottville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Alvord's history of Noble County, Indiana ...1902 · page 385Read the page →
Read the text
Christians and have accumulated a large property, which places them in easy circumstances. They reside in the pretty little village of Wolcottville in a neat cottage home, surrounded by numerous friends. Their home is ever open to the friend and stranger, and they are passing their declining years in peace and contentment.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Alvord's history of Noble County, Indiana ...1902 · page 377Read the page →
Read the text
Mr. McCormick has not only erected the buildings on his homestead farm, but in 1895 built his residence in Wolcottville and also erected a bouse in the west part of the village, which he occupied for two years, but afterward disposed of, and later on erected a residence in the eastern part of 1 Wolcottville, now known as "Oklahoma,"
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.
Timeline
Wolcottville, 1848 to 1947
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1848Post officeThe Wolcott's Mills post office opens
- 1857
Born hereLora La Mance is born here - 1864Post officeThe Wolcott's Mills post office closes
- 1864Post officeThe Wolcottsville post office opens
- 20th century
- 1935
Born hereKen Kercheval is born here - 1947
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Wolcottville, decade by decade
Today1 recent
2016On the map
Wolcottville on the map, 1947 to 1992
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Wolcottville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1947Wolcottville sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Wolcottville.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Wolcottville
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2020
George and Margaret Wolcott House
Buildings
All 1 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Wolcottville, census by census
Grew from 428 people in 1880 to 1,004 in 2020.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Wolcottville’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →2 famous people were born in Wolcottville
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Another post office, Wolcott's Mills, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Wolcott's Mills
Wolcottsville
18401930today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Wolcottville’s history
How does Wolcottville rank for history?
Wolcottville is more historic than 89% 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.
What is on the National Register in Wolcottville?
One place: the George and Margaret Wolcott House (listed 2020).
How old are the homes in Wolcottville?
46% of Wolcottville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±12.2 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1956.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.