The story
Read it all →How Worthington came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Worthington.
The Worthington post office was established in 1850. The town was named after Worthington, Ohio.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B−History
History · Worthington
Worthington’s post office opened in 1850, and 48% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: old-book passages.
1850first post office
0on the National Register
48%homes built before 1940
5famous people
Quick answers
How Worthington began
When was Worthington founded?
1850
The Worthington post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name.
2020 census: 1,393176 years
How historic is Worthington?
B−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 54% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Worthington post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Worthington’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Worthington is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Worthington’s overall grade.
Founding era1850, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194048.0% of homes (±5.5) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%A+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IN town 7.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 54%
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 Worthington’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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Worthington’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 Worthington’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Worthington’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 Worthington, 1853–1874
Passages that mention Worthington, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Secular and ecclesiastical history of the town of Worthington1853 · page 20Read the page →
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to the greatest degree of excitement, and called out the following preamble and warrant : " Whereas, a number of the inhabitants of Worthington have desired a town meeting to be warned, for the purpose of takiug into consideration, the alarming circumstances of the times, in regard to the trade and commerce of the town of Boston, and the towns of America in general — to the constable of the town of Worthington, greeting in his Majesty's
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History of the town of Worthington1874 · page 61Read the page →
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There was but one church organization in the town of Worthington, and but one congregation of worshipers on the Sabbath, until 1828. During that year, a Methodist Episcopal church was formed in the south-eastern part of the town.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Secular and ecclesiastical history of the town of Worthington1853 · page 70Read the page →
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There was but one church organization in the town of Worthington, and but one congregation of worshippers on the Sabbath, until 1828. During that year, ^a Methodist Episcopal church was formed in the southeastern part of the town. A congregation was gathered, composed of individuals residing in Worthington, Chesterfield, Norwich and Chester. Public worship was established, and a plain, substantial meeting-house erected.
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
Worthington, 1850 to 1928
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Worthington, decade by decade
2013
2013
2013
2013
2013
2013Famous people
See all →5 famous people were born in Worthington
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Questions about Worthington’s history
What year was Worthington founded?
The Worthington post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Worthington rank for history?
Worthington is more historic than 54% 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.
How old are the homes in Worthington?
48% of Worthington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1943.
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 (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.