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History · Bell Township

29% of Bell Township’s homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the McGees Mills Covered Bridge. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1971 on, and the census since 1970.

1on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bell Township’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Bell Township’s past

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

Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Bell Township, and 6 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 925 in 1990; 686 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Chest
1833–1844
Cush
1850–1887
Ostend
1857–1896
Mahaffey
1878–today
McGees Mills
1884–1983
Newtonburg
1893–1907
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BethlehemClover RunMcGees MillsMiddletonNewtonburgOstend
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bell Township
Banner RidgeMahaffeyMount CarmelOtterbeinRock SpringsSunderland

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

Help out

Start Bell Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Descri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Bell Township, census by census

02004006008001,000198020002020Peak: 925

Peaked at 925 in 1990; 686 people lived here in 2020.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

The story so far

Bell Township, in brief

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

Bell Township is a township in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 686 at the 2020 census.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 760 to 687 (-10%).

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

Timeline

Bell Township, 1833 to 1990

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1833Post officeThe Chest post office opens
  3. 1844Post officeThe Chest post office closes
  4. 1850In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Clearfield County - ED 17-…
  5. 1850Post officeThe Cush post office opens
  6. 1857Post officeThe Ostend post office opens
  7. 1887Post officeThe Cush post office closes
  8. 1896Post officeThe Ostend post office closes
  9. 20th century
  10. 1971On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1990CensusPopulation peaks at 925
By decade

Bell Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1850s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s1 item
1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Clearfield County - ED 17-1, ED 17-2, ED 17-3A, ED 17-3B…18501940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Penns…
Date unknown1 to date
MCdorm5Date?MCdorm5
Today8 recent
US 219 nb in Middleton, Clearfield Co., PA, Aug. 20242024US 219 nb in Middleton, Clearfield Co., PA, Aug. 2024PA 36 sb entering Newburg, Aug. 20242024PA 36 sb entering Newburg, Aug. 2024Mahaffey, PA post office, Aug. 20242024Mahaffey, PA post office, Aug. 2024Mahaffey Camp, PA (2), Aug. 20242024Mahaffey Camp, PA (2), Aug. 2024Mahaffey Camp, PA (1), Aug. 20242024Mahaffey Camp, PA (1), Aug. 2024Former Bell Township, PA school, Aug. 20242024Former Bell Township, PA school, Aug. 2024Ice river2010Ice riverIce river - panoramio (1)2010Ice river - panoramio (1)
On the map

Bell Township on the map, 1971 to 1994

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

Bell Township on the 1971 USGS mapBell Township on the 1981 USGS mapBell Township on the 1994 USGS map1971Mahaffey sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bell 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.

1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Clearfield County - ED 17-1, ED 17-2, ED 17-3A, ED 17-3B…
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Clearfield County - ED 17-1, ED 17-2, ED 17-3A, ED 17-3B…, 1850

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Bell Township

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
McGees Mills Covered Bridge
McGees Mills Covered Bridge
Structures
McGees Mills Covered BridgeStructure

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Bell Township

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

See all →
Britt BakerAmerican professional wrestler · b. 1991
John Patton Jr.American politician · b. 1850
Charles Emory PattonAmerican politician from Pennsylvania · b. 1859
Devin MesoracoAmerican professional baseball player · b. 1988
Billy HunterAmerican baseball player and coach · b. 1928
Donald C. BruceAmerican politician · b. 1921
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Burnside TownshipIts storyB−Greenwood Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNewburgIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBrady TownshipIts storyB−Gaskill TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBanks TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFerguson TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bell Township’s history

What is on the National Register in Bell Township?

One place: the McGees Mills Covered Bridge (listed 1980).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (10), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.