Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Blue Bell was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1990.
The Blue Bell post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Blue Bell’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Blue Bell. 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 Blue Bell.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
From Wikipedia’s history of Blue Bell.
Whitpain Public School was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. The “Dutchman” is a well-known historical landmark within the town of Blue Bell.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Blue Bell, cut from the printed page as they were published.
House turnpike was incorporated March 17, 184.5, and finished in 1848, and has a course through the township of nearly five and one-half miles, or about onethird its total length. The pike from Blue Bell, through Penllyn to the Spring House was constructed in 1872, and is three and one-half miles long. A turnpike was made in 1884 from the Sumneytown pike, near Kneedler Station, to the Morris road, pass-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Boehm'.s Reformed Church, so called from its founder, is the oldest place of worship in the township and is situated at the intersection of the Blue Bell and Penllyn turnpike road with the old and ancient road, leading from North Wales to Plymouth, near the village of Blue Bell, and sixteen miles from Philadelphia.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Blue Bell is situated at the intersection of the old North Wales and Plymouth road and the Skippack turnpike. In 1880 it had sixty inhabitants, with post office, stores, shops, etc. But to get back earlier it may be interesting to know that in 1758 there was an old inn here known as the "White House." The old military maps all show it thus named.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Blue Bell’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 6,067 and 6,506 people in every census since 1990.
4 censuses, 1990–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Blue Bell’s Wikipedia page.
The Blue Bell post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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