Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the John Abbott House. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1920 on, and the census since 1850.
Abbottstown dates its founding to 1753 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1850.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Abbottstown is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
Pennsylvania towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Pennsylvania town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Abbottstown’s 21.3 sits above most of its state (82% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Abbottstown’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveLincoln View Motel and Restaurant, U.S. Route 30 -- 1 1-2 miles east of Abbottstown, Penn…
In the archiveHub Cap CityEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Abbottstown. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Abbottstown.
From Wikipedia’s history of Abbottstown.
Abbottstown is named for John Abbott, who founded it in 1753. The John Abbott House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The town had rail service via the East Berlin Railroad from 1877 to 1914 and 1916 to 1939. The tracks were removed in 1940.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Abbottstown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
In 1845 it gives place to the quaint old structure on the Abbottstown road, which in time will disappear in favor of the proposed brick and stone building to be erected on the southeast corner of the square and the Abbottstown road. Yn 1867 Hanover and New Oxford were set off as a station with Rev. Jos. Ross in charge. The preachers in charge of York Springs from 1843 to 1867 may be said to have also served this society, although a few other names appear on the records. Prior to 1544 it belonged to the Gettysburg Circuit, when Messrs. Dill Clark, George Hildt, W. O. Lunsden, T. H.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Berlin branch of the Baltimore & Hanover Railroad passes through the northern part of the township and the borough of Abbottstown. The only postoffice in Berwick Township is Abbottstown. BOROUGH OF ABBOTTSTOWN, 1753-1886.
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.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2025St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church and Cemetery, …
2025PA 194 sb entering Abbottstown, July 2025
2025PA 194 sb approaching US 30, Abbottstown, July 2025
2024US 30 eb at Abbottstown, PA traffic circle, May 2024
2023PA 194 NB past US 30
2019Historic mural
2019One facade of a beautiful, historic, and unusual Vict…
2019Statuary outside a beautiful, historic, and unusual V…
2019A beautiful, historic, and unusual Victorian-style ma…
2011Pennsylvania State Route 194
2011Abbottstown, Pennsylvania
2011Abbottstown, Pennsylvania
2011Abbottstown, Pennsylvania
2011Abbottstown, Pennsylvania
2011Abbottstown, Adams County, Pennyslvania
2008Abbottstown, Pennsylvania, U.S. 30No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Abbottstown’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 334 people in 1850 to 1,022 in 2020, 3 times over.
17 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Abbottstown’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1753, according to Wikidata. Abbottstown’s post office opened in 1796, and the census of 1850 counted 334 people here.
Abbottstown is more historic than 94% 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.
One place: the John Abbott House (listed 1980).
27% of Abbottstown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1974.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (16), the Library of Congress (4), 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.
c. 1930
1989