Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 72% of U.S. towns · #444 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 7 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1906 on, and the census since 1980.
More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brecknock Township is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #444 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls 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 Brecknock Township’s 11.8 sits above most of its state (78% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 9 historic buildings outnumber those of 75% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Brecknock Township’s history is told.
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Brecknock Township. 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 Brecknock Township.
From Wikipedia’s history of Brecknock Township.
The Bowmansville Roller Mill, John B. Good House, and Red Run Covered Bridge are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Lancaster County - ED 36-1…
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Lancaster County - Brecknock - ED …
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1880s. 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 Brecknock Township’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 4,068 and 7,585 people in every census since 1980.
5 censuses, 1980–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Brecknock Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Brecknock Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Brecknock Township is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #444 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.
Three places: the Red Run Covered Bridge (listed 1980), the Bowmansville Roller Mill (1990) and the John B. Good House (1980).
11% of Brecknock Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
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