More historic than 52% of U.S. towns · #722 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Most of Bethlehem Township was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1818.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bethlehem Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bethlehem Township is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #722 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bethlehem Township’s overall grade.
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 Bethlehem 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.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1741.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B+. The pre-1940 share (±1.4 points) is firm at this size.
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 →
What stands out about Bethlehem Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Butztown
1818–1957
Brodhead
1891–1895
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BrodheadButztownFarmersvilleMiddletownMount HopeProspect ParkWagnervilleWilliam Penn Manor
Gone or out of use
Bethlehem Easton Airportairport
1cemetery inside Bethlehem Township
Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Bethlehem Township on the map, 1894 to 1992
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bethlehem Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1894Allentown 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 Bethlehem Township.
Timeline
Bethlehem Township, 1741 to 1957
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Prior to European settlements, the areas around present-day Bethlehem and its surrounding locales along the Delaware River and its tributaries in eastern Pennsylvania were inhabited by various indigenous peoples, including the Algonquian-speaking Lenape, which had three main divisions, known by the dialects, the Unami, Unalachtigo, and Munsee. They traded with the Dutch and then British colonialists in the Mid-Atlantic region in present-day Connecticut, Delaware, Long Island, Maryland, New Jersey, the lower Hudson Valley in New York, and other regions in Pennsylvania.
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.
In 1741, according to Wikidata. Bethlehem Township’s post office opened in 1818, and the census of 1850 counted 1,516 people here.
How does Bethlehem Township rank for history?
Bethlehem Township is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #722 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.
How old are the homes in Bethlehem Township?
5% of Bethlehem 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 1989.
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 (6), 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.
1896