History · Indian Head

Indian Head’s post office opened in 1828

More historic than 44% of U.S. towns · #106 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it

Most of Indian Head was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1913 on, and the census since 1930.

1828first post office

0on the National Register

8%homes built before 1940

12old photos & papers

1famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Indian Head’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Indian Head began

When was Indian Head founded?

1828

The Indian Head post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1920. Another post office, Glymont (1848), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 1,240 in 19302020 census: 3,894198 years

How historic is Indian Head?

C⁺

More historic than 44% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Indian Head post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1920.The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Indian Head’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Indian Head is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #106 of 261 in Maryland. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C⁺

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Indian Head’s overall grade.

Founding era1828, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA⁻Homes built before 19408.4% of homes (±4.5) · typical MD town 3.3% · U.S. 8.4%C⁺National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MD town 0.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 44%

NewerOlder

Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 60%

Few Maryland towns list much on the Register (a typical Maryland town has 0.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Indian Head’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (20% of Maryland 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 C− to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1920.

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 Indian Head’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1930 and 1950, then grew 7-fold.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Indian Head, and 5 old place names are still on the map.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1860–1919.On the map since 19136 editions of the USGS map, 1913 to 1977. Watch Indian Head change.

★ What stands out · People over time

Indian Head, census by census

Lost half of its people between 1930 and 1950, then grew 7-fold.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Indian Head’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Indian Head had its own post office from 1828 to 1829. Another post office, Glymont, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Indian Head

1828–1829

Glymont

1848–1925

Indian Head

1869–today

18201920today

Hamlets and corners on the map

GlymontMattawoman WoodsPerry WrightPotomac WoodWarington Hills

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

By decade

Indian Head, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s2 items

1860Indian Head, M.D. [and] Fish house

1861Indian Head, Md

1910s10 items

INDIAN HEAD, MD. NAVY PROVING GROUND. RESIDENCE OF GEORGE SWANN, DAMAGED BY 16' SHELL THAT HIT ANOTHER IN SANDBANK, AND…

1916INDIAN HEAD, MD. NAVY PROVING GROUND. RESIDENCE OF GE…

1917Maryland - Hebron through Herring Creek

INDIAN HEAD, MD. NAVY PROVING GROUND. NAVY GUNS AT INDIAN HEAD

1919INDIAN HEAD, MD. NAVY PROVING GROUND. NAVY GUNS AT IN…

1920s–1990snothing yet

Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Add from your album

The story

How Indian Head came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Indian Head.

Read it all →

The peninsula, a "head" of land overlooking the Potomac River, had been long occupied by various cultures of indigenous peoples. The historic Algonquian-speaking Native American tribe was the Mattawoman (likely a band of the Piscataway) encountered by the first English settlers; the latter called the land "Indian Head", meaning "Indian Peninsula". According to research published by the historical society of Charles County, "Indian Head" is a shortened form of "Indian Headlands". A newspaper article mentions another explanation of the name, that "an unfortunate young brave" from a foreign tribe was beheaded for falling in love with an "Algonquin princess", although Edward W. Rice (the town's mayor at that time) dismissed the story as a "fairy tale".

ChaptersAmerican Civil War Incorporation Youngest mayor

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Indian Head, 1828 to 2020

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

19th century
1828Post officeThe Indian Head post office opens
1829Post officeThe Indian Head post office closes
1848Post officeThe Glymont post office opens
1860In the archiveIndian Head, M.D. [and] Fish house
1869Post officeThe Indian Head post office opens
20th century
1909Born hereKatherine Hoskins is born here
1913On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1916In the archiveINDIAN HEAD, MD. NAVY PROVING GROUND. RESIDENCE OF GEORGE SWANN, DAMAGED BY 16' SHELL THA…
1925Post officeThe Glymont post office closes
21st century
2020CensusPopulation peaks at 3,894

On the map

Indian Head on the map, 1913 to 1977

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Indian Head. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1913Indian Head sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Indian Head.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this viewIndian Head, M.D. [and] Fish house, 1860

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Indian Head’s page.

Retake this view · +15

Help out

Finish Indian Head’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewIndian Head, M.D. [and] Fish house: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Potomac HeightsIts storyC⁻

Questions about Indian Head’s history

What year was Indian Head founded?

The Indian Head post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1920.

How does Indian Head rank for history?

Indian Head is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #106 of 261 in Maryland. 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 Indian Head?

8% of Indian Head’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1980.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

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 Library of Congress (11), 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) 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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