Cumberland, Indiana
town in Hancock and Marion Counties, Indiana, United States
Cumberland is a town in Hancock and Marion counties, Indiana, United States. The population was 5,954 at the 2020 census, up from 5,169 in 2010.
History
Cumberland is named after the city in Maryland and was platted on July 7, 1831 when the Cumberland Road (also known as the National Road) was extended to that point. Cumberland contained a post office from 1834 until it was discontinued in 1958. Cumberland was officially incorporated as a town in 1951. Since 1970, the Marion County portion of Cumberland has been subject to Unigov as an included town, but will become an excluded town on January 1, 2027. The Cumberland Historic District is located in the Marion County portion of the town.
Geography
The center of Cumberland is in eastern Marion County, but the town limits extend east and north into western Hancock County, so that the majority of the town's area is now in Hancock County. U.S. Route 40, following the route of the National Road, is the main road through the community, leading west 10 miles (16 km) to downtown Indianapolis and east the same distance to Greenfield, the Hancock county seat.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.82 square miles (7.3 km2), of which 0.01 square miles (0.026 km2), or 0.35%, are water.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Cumberland, Indiana” as town in Hancock and Marion Counties, Indiana, United States. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as town in Hancock and Marion Counties, Indiana, United States. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q958240. VIAF identifies the subject as 149029433. The Library of Congress control number is n88106599. Authority coordinates are 39.784, -85.952. 2 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 2010, 1831 and 1834.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Cumberland, Indiana”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Cumberland, Indiana primary sources, Cumberland, Indiana archive and Cumberland research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Cumberland, Indiana”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Cumberland, Indiana” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.