Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 88% of U.S. towns · #213 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 8 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 2000.
More historic than 88% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Adams Township is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #213 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 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 Adams Township’s 14.1 sits above most of its state (80% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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.
Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Adams Township. 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 Adams Township.
From Wikipedia’s history of Adams Township.
The Johnstown Flood National Memorial was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club Historic District was listed in 1986.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Cambria County - ED 11-4, …
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
BuiltJohnstown Flood National Memorial is built
In the archiveJOHNSTOWN FLOOD NATIONAL MEMORIAL2 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2024Western terminus of PA 869 eb, Aug. 2024
2024US 219 nb at South Fork Little Conemaugh River, PA, A…
2024Site of South Fork Dam from US 219, Aug. 2024
2024Ragers Hill Road sb at PA 869 entrance, Aug. 2024
2016Late spring 2016 - panoramio (89)
2016Late spring 2016 - panoramio (69)
2016Late spring 2016 - panoramio (66)
2016Late spring 2016 - panoramio (65)
2016Late spring 2016 - panoramio (64)
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2016Late spring 2016 - panoramio (55)
2016Late spring 2016 - panoramio (46)
2016Early Spring - panoramio (71)
2016Early Spring - panoramio (66)
2015Route 219 - panoramio (20)No 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 Adams Township’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.
Between 5,752 and 6,495 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Adams Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Adams Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Adams Township’s history is told.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Adams Township is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #213 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.
Two places: the Johnstown Flood National Memorial (listed 1966) and the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club Historic District (1986).
22% of Adams Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.4 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 (20), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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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