Canton, Indiana

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1950 and the latest in 1990. It stands in Washington Township. It lies in ZIP code area 47167. The Survey maps it on the Salem quadrangle.

Canton within Washington County

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 15 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

1950 USGS Salem quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
1956 USGS Vincennes quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
1957 USGS Vincennes quadrangle1:250000
1958 USGS Vincennes quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1963 USGS Salem quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
1986 USGS Bedford quadrangle1:100000
1990 USGS Bedford quadrangle1:100000

What happened here

An account from the chapter on Washington township. The inset identifies its exact source book and publication year.

From First Educational Report, Washington County, Indiana : Containing Photographic Illustrations, Superintendents', Principals', Teachers', and Citizens' Reports of the Educational Work in the County, published 1915 - Washington Township

A Skirmish With The Indians

The Zink families came to the county at an early date and figured pnimineiitlv in the development of the country. They located down Blue river southwest of Salem in 1814. Daniel Zink, a Revolutionary soldier, came from Kentucky with several of his boys. One of them, John Zink. was a meml)er ui (.'(ilonel Dawalt's company of rangers which chased the Indians engaged in the rigeoii Rdost massacre.

Read the rest of this passage

In the county-history sources

12,709 words on this township

First Educational Report, Washington County, Indiana : Containing Photographic Illustrations, Superintendents', Principals', Teachers', and Citizens' Reports of the Educational Work in the County, published 1915 names this settlement in its chapter on Washington Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

The agriculture case was made by the boys. Each section is labeled so as to enable the pupil to know exactly where to find the data for his daily lesson. The boys are scoring seed corn prior to the final test, the rag doll test. The corn scored was gathered from the field in September, properly stored, and weighed at different intervals during the school months, thereby giving a lesson in shrinkage.

Passage source: First Educational Report, Washington County, Indiana : Containing Photographic Illustrations, Superintendents', Principals', Teachers', and Citizens' Reports of the Educational Work in the County, published 1915.

In the vocal work in music the pupils were taught the rudiments and school songs (four to six songs were taught each month). Some of the part songs were: The Little Persimmon Tree; The Boat Song; The Whippoorwill; Our Dollies; The Village Bells; Good Night, Ladies; Oh, Blue Eyes Closed in Slumber; Upidee; O Tiny Boat; Call to Arms; Soldiers' Chorus; Perfect Day; Love's Old Sweet Song; Where Are You Going To?

I do not feel justified in using the time allotted me in mere review of what I have done or failed to do. I deem it the time of rendering thanks. These six years of varied experience have been ushered into the past and whatever I might now say could not change their reality. I also recognize that whatever has been accomplished was made so by the help of others. And, too, I am not unmindful that friends would still smile and those unfriendly still frown regardless of what might here be said. I want then to render thanks to-day to those who have helped me in this great work. In doing so, I wish to offer my sincere thanks to my predecessors in office. To my knowledge I have never been unduly criticized by them.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Washington Township - it names this place 7 more 7 times.

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Canton: 2 producers, 1 past producer. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status
H & L Gravel and Sand Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Hoosier Stone Company Salem	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Salem East Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer

Every working recorded in Washington County

Storms near this place

6 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Canton in 6 storm reports between 2002 and 2025: 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail, 1 tornado, 1 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
November 2017	Tornado (EF1)	Canton	$200,000	The National Weather Service in conjunction with Washington County Emergency Management Agency conducted a storm survey in central Washington County and determined there were three distinct touchdowns near and around the Salem, Indiana area Sunday evening November 5. The third tornado touched down near the intersection of Canton Road and Howell Road. Severe damage was sustained to several barns, street signs, bird houses, and metal poles that were bent or snapped. A 500 gallon propane tank moved to the south 3 feet and became lodged against a grain storage building. There was an excellent signature of mud and dirt spattering cyclonically on a grain silo. The tornado was extremely narrow and mostly at tree top level with several power poles snapped near the top. The tornado had estimated peak winds of 90 to 95 mph and width of 50 to 70 yards.
November 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Canton	$3,000	Local law enforcement reported that one telephone pole and a few trees were downed between Delaney Park and Little York.
November 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Canton	$500	A NWS Storm Survey found metal roof damage to a cinder block garage. Winds were estimated at 65 mph.
June 2025	Flash Flood	Canton	-	Water was flowing over Jim Day Road.
November 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Canton	-	A NWS Storm Survey found large branches down with winds estimated around 62 mph.
May 2002	Hail	Canton	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Washington County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Harristown	1.9 miles	15
Georgetown	2.6 miles	11
Fair Acres	3.2 miles	15
New Philadelphia	3.4 miles	11
Salem	3.7 miles	15
Martin Heights	4.0 miles	15
South Boston	4.1 miles	9
McCol Place	4.3 miles	15

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 432116. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.