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A−History
History · Abington Township

Abington Township’s post office opened in 1832, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 84% of U.S. towns · #271 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it

4 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 18 buildings between them. Below: 30 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1890.

1832first post office
4on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
30old photos & papers
56famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Abington Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Abington Township began

When was Abington Township founded?

1832

The Abington Township post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name. Eight smaller post offices, Weldon (1878), Rydal (1889) and Meadowbrook (1892), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 2,703 in 18902020 census: 58,502194 years

How historic is Abington Township?

A−

More historic than 84% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Abington Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Abington Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Abington Township is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #271 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Abington Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1832, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194019.2% of homes (±1.4) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register4 listings, 19 historic buildings, 3.2 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 84%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 74%

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 Abington Township’s 3.2 sits near the middle of its state (62% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 19 historic buildings outnumber those of 79% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A−. The pre-1940 share (±1.4 points) is firm at this size. 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 Abington Township’s past

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

A town in old photos30 old photos, postcards and papers, 1892–1957.Lost villages9 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Abington Township, and 28 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 18936 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1997. Watch Abington Township change.Famous sons and daughtersMatthew Fox, Mike Vogel and 54 more were born here.
★ What stands out · By decade

Abington Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s5 items
HOTCHKIN(1892) p206 St. Peter's Church, Weldon1892HOTCHKIN(1892) p206 St. Peter's Church, WeldonHOTCHKIN(1892) p402 Residence of Mr. Samuel W. Haines1892HOTCHKIN(1892) p402 Residence of Mr. Samuel W. HainesHOTCHKIN(1892) p404 Residence of Mr. John P. Newbold1892HOTCHKIN(1892) p404 Residence of Mr. John P. NewboldHOTCHKIN(1892) p408 Residence of Dr. L.S. Filbert1892HOTCHKIN(1892) p408 Residence of Dr. L.S. FilbertHOTCHKIN(1892) p446 Residence of Mr. John M. Fisher1892HOTCHKIN(1892) p446 Residence of Mr. John M. Fisher
1900s–1940snothing 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
1950s25 items
Best & Co., business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a252381957Best & Co., business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC g…Best & Co., business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a252391957Best & Co., business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC g…Best & Co., business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a252401957Best & Co., business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC g…Best & Co., business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a252411957Best & Co., business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC g…Best & Co., business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a252421957Best & Co., business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC g…Best & Co., business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a252431957Best & Co., business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC g…Best & Co., business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a252441957Best & Co., business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC g…Best & Co., business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a252451957Best & Co., business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC g…Best & Co., business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a252461957Best & Co., business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC g…Best & Co., business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a252471957Best & Co., business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC g…Best & Co., business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a252481957Best & Co., business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC g…Best's department Store, business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a250531957Best's department Store, business in Abington, Pennsy…Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a250461957Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsy…Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a250471957Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsy…Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a250481957Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsy…Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a250491957Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsy…Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a250501957Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsy…Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a250511957Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsy…Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a250521957Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsy…Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a250541957Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsy…Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a250551957Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsy…Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a250561957Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsy…Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a250571957Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsy…Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a250581957Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsy…Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a250591957Best's department store, business in Abington, Pennsy…
1960s–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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Nine other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Abington
1832–today
Weldon
1878–1929
Rydal
1889–1957
Meadowbrook
1892–1957
Roslyn
1895–1959
McKinley
1901–1923
Noble
1905–1905
Ardsley
1922–1929
North Hills
1931–1944
Ogontz Center
1951–1958
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AbingtonArdsleyBaederwoodBenson EastChapel Hill ManorCrestmontCrosswicksFoxcroft SquareGlensideHillsideHollywoodMcKinleyMeadowbrookMount Vernon GardensNobleNorth HillsRosemore GardensRoslynRubicamRydalRydal EastRydal EstatesRydal GreenRydal Park
Gone or out of use
Hamilton Avenue Schoolschool
10cemeteries and burying grounds inside Abington Township
Abington FriendsAbington Presbyterian ChurchCarmel Presbyterian Church Memorial GardenHillsideHillsideLawnview Memorial ParkMontefioreSaint Anne's Episcopal ChurchSaint Basil the Great ConventSaint Mary's Ukrainian Catholic

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

On the map

Abington Township on the map, 1893 to 1997

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

Abington Township on the 1893 USGS mapAbington Township on the 1950 USGS mapAbington Township on the 1967 USGS mapAbington Township on the 1973 USGS mapAbington Township on the 1983 USGS mapAbington Township on the 1997 USGS map1893Germantown 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 Abington Township.

The story

How Abington Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Abington Township.

Read it all →

The land that comprises Abington today was purchased from the native Lenape by William Penn during the 1680s. By the next decade, a handful of European settlers built and lived in Hill Township, at the crossroads of Susquehanna Street Road and Old York Road. After brief times under other names, the township incorporated as Abington in 1704. The town's name is likely taken from parishes in England formed over 900 years ago in Northamptonshire or Cambridgeshire. A local 1734 census counted 42 resident landowners. During the American Revolutionary War, there was a small battle that took place at Edge Hill.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Abington Township, 1822 to 1983

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1822BuiltStanley is built
  3. 1832Post officeThe Abington post office opens
  4. 1872BuiltJenkintown Wyncote Train Station is built
  5. 1878Post officeThe Weldon post office opens
  6. 1889Post officeThe Rydal post office opens
  7. 1892In the archiveHOTCHKIN(1892) p206 St. Peter's Church, Weldon
  8. 1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 20th century
  10. 1929Post officeThe Weldon post office closes
  11. 1946Born hereReggie Jackson is born here
  12. 1957In the archiveBest & Co., business in Abington, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a25238
  13. 1957Post officeThe Rydal post office closes
  14. 1966Born hereMatthew Fox is born here
  15. 1979Born hereMike Vogel is born here
  16. 1980Born hereMatthew Lawrence is born here
  17. 1983BuiltAbington Township High School is built
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.

HOTCHKIN(1892) p206 St. Peter's Church, Weldon
Retake this viewHOTCHKIN(1892) p206 St. Peter's Church, Weldon, 1892

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

4 listings protect 19 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
19
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
Keswick Theatre
Keswick TheatreStanley, built 1822Jenkintown Wyncote Train Station, built 1872Abington Township High School, built 1983
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Tudor1
Adam Style1
Federal1
Stick/Eastlake1
Bungalow/Craftsman1
Queen Anne1
Keswick TheatreTudor
StanleyFederal · Built 1822
Jenkintown Wyncote Train StationBuilt 1872
All 4 listings
Abington Township High SchoolDistrict · listed 1985

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Abington Township, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,00055,00060,00065,00070,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 63,625

Between 2,703 and 63,625 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

56 famous people were born in Abington Township

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Matthew FoxAmerican actor · b. 1966
Mike VogelAmerican actor and fashion model · b. 1979
Matthew LawrenceAmerican actor · b. 1980
Reggie JacksonAmerican baseball player and coach · b. 1946
John-David F. BartoeAmerican astrophysicist and astronaut · b. 1944
Andrew LawrenceAmerican actor, singer and director · b. 1988
Help out

Finish Abington Township’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 viewHOTCHKIN(1892) p206 St. Peter's Church,…: stand where they stood+15Share 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.

Jenkintown2 historic placesAUpper Dublin Township1 historic placeA−RockledgeIts storyB−Cheltenham Township14 historic placesA−Glenside3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPhiladelphia615 historic placesA+Lower Moreland Township3 historic placesBWyncote1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOrelandIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMcKinleyIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Abington Township’s history

What year was Abington Township founded?

The Abington Township post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Abington Township rank for history?

Abington Township is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #271 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. 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.

What is on the National Register in Abington Township?

4 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Keswick Theatre (listed 1983, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Stanley and the Abington Township High School, with 18 contributing buildings. 19 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Abington Township?

19% of Abington Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1956.

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 (30), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.