Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 76% of U.S. towns · #379 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1870.
The Boyertown post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1835.
More historic than 76% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Boyertown is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #379 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Boyertown’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.
Founding year: the first post office (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1886Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Boyertown. 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 Boyertown.
From Wikipedia’s history of Boyertown.
A post office called Boyertown has been in operation since 1828. The community was named for its founders, brothers Henry and Daniel Boyer.
In 1908, Boyertown was the site of the Rhoads Opera House fire.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Boyertown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
COLEBROOKDALE. — In March, 1865, a railroad was constructed from the Philadelphia & Reading railroad at Pottstown to Boyertown and a company was incorporated under the name of "Colebropkdale Railroad Company." The road was constructed to Barto, a distance of nearly thirteen miles, and opened to travel in November, 1869.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
prominent in that immediate vicinity from the time of the first settlements before the erection of the county. It is situated along the Colebrookdalerailroad, three miles beyond Boyertown. The construction of this railroad in 1869 was the direct cause of the formation of a considerable settlement at this point; and the erection of a large iron furnace here in 1875 also encouraged building operations.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
He was one of the projectors of the National Bank of Boyertown, when it was organized in 1874, and became its first president, which position he held until January, 1883, when he peremptorily declined a re-election. In March, 1883, he was one of the projectors of the Farmers' National Bank of Boyertown, which was organized on March 20th, becoming its president, which posi-
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveTownship map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, from actual surveys
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Berks County - Boyertown - ED 6-12…
Born hereCarl Andrew Spaatz is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveGENERAL VIEW, SHOWING REAR ELEVATION - A. and S. Lee Barn (1797), Between State Route 73 …
In the archiveAnthracite Ry 735 (SW1)
In the archiveBlue Mountain & Reading 1200 (SW7)5 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1990s. 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 Boyertown’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 690 and 4,428 people in every census since 1870.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Boyertown’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Boyertown’s post office has been open since 1828.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Boyertown post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1835.
Boyertown is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #379 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.
47% of Boyertown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±12.6 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1946.
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 (12), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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