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B−History
History · Belfast Township

21% of Belfast Township’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 47% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1935 on, and the census since 2000.

0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Belfast Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

Where Belfast Township’s name came from

How did Belfast Township get its name?

Belfast Township was named after the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland.

How historic is Belfast Township?

B−

More historic than 47% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
History grade

What drives Belfast Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Belfast Township is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Belfast Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194021.1% of homes (±5.9) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%B+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical PA town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 47%
NewerOlder

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 Belfast Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.9 points).

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 →

What stands out about Belfast Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Belfast Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Belfast Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Belfast Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewCabins. Looking NW HABS: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Sipes Mill
1860–1948
Sideling Hill
1862–1919
Needmore
1872–today
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Daves GapNeedmoreSipes Mill
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Belfast Township
Needmore Bible ChurchPleasant GrovePleasant Ridge BrethrenSideling Hill Primitive BaptistWink

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

The story so far

Belfast Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Belfast Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Belfast Township is a township in Fulton County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The population was 1,361 at the 2020 census. It was named after the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,448 to 1,361 (-6%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Belfast Township, 1860 to 1999

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1860Post officeThe Sipes Mill post office opens
  3. 1862Post officeThe Sideling Hill post office opens
  4. 1872Post officeThe Needmore post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1919Post officeThe Sideling Hill post office closes
  7. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1948Post officeThe Sipes Mill post office closes
  9. 1999In the archiveCabins. Looking NW HABS
By decade

Belfast Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1990s1 item
Cabins. Looking NW HABS1999Cabins. Looking NW HABS
Date unknown2 to date
Henry Gun FactoryDate?Henry Gun FactoryHenry Gun Factory, Workman's HouseDate?Henry Gun Factory, Workman's House
Today3 recent
US 522 nb at Licking Creek (PA), Aug. 20242024US 522 nb at Licking Creek (PA), Aug. 2024US Route 522 - Pennsylvania2009US Route 522 - PennsylvaniaUS Route 522 - Pennsylvania2009US Route 522 - Pennsylvania
On the map

Belfast Township on the map, 1935 to 1973

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

Belfast Township on the 1935 USGS mapBelfast Township on the 1967 USGS mapBelfast Township on the 1973 USGS map1935Needmore 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 Belfast Township.

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.

Henry Gun Factory
Retake this viewHenry Gun Factory

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Belfast Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,60020002020Peak: 1,448

Between 1,341 and 1,448 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Belfast Township

Nobody well known was born in Belfast Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
D
Dean KoontzAmerican writer and screenwriter · b. 1945
Jane Irwin HarrisonFirst Lady of the United States · b. 1804
William FindlayAmerican politician · b. 1768
Charles Triplett O'FerrallAmerican politician · b. 1840
Richard K. SutherlandUnited States Army general · b. 1893
James FindlayAmerican politician · b. 1770
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Ayr TownshipIts storyC+Brush Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townThompson TownshipIts storyC+Licking Creek TownshipIts storyB+Bethel TownshipIts storyC−

Questions about Belfast Township’s history

How does Belfast Township rank for history?

Belfast Township is more historic than 47% 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.

How old are the homes in Belfast Township?

21% of Belfast Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1969.

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 (4), the Library of Congress (2), 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.