History · Broad Top Township

Broad Top Township dates to 1868, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 85% of U.S. towns. What drives it

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 79 buildings. Below: maps from 1930 on and the census since 1870.

1868founded

1on the National Register

33%homes built before 1940

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Quick answers

How Broad Top Township began

When was Broad Top Township founded?

1868

Broad Top Township dates its founding to 1868 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 327 in 18702020 census: 1,441158 years

How historic is Broad Top Township?

A⁻

More historic than 85% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1862.

History grade

What drives Broad Top Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Broad Top Township is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

A⁻

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Broad Top Township’s overall grade.

Founding era1868, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC⁺Homes built before 194033.4% of homes (±7.8) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%A National Register1 listing, 79 historic buildings, 513 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4A

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 85%

NewerOlder

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 Broad Top Township’s 513 sits above most of its state (94% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 79 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1868.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.8 points).

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 Broad Top Township’s past

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

Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Broad Top Township, and 12 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Broad Top Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Woodvale Historic District takes in 79 historic buildings.Boom and bustPeaked at 610 in 1940; 367 people lived here in 2020.

★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Riddlesburg

1862–today

Kearney

1884–1937

Defiance

1889–today

Langdondale

1892–1972

18601940today

Hamlets and corners on the map

AlvanDefianceFinleyvilleHickory HillJerkwaterKearneyLangdondaleNorth PointRiddlesburgRound KnobSandy RunStone Row

Gone or out of use

Garlick MinemineSandy Run SchoolschoolWarsing SchoolschoolWhite Church SchoolschoolWhited Schoolschool

5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Broad Top Township

DuvallsEvansLangdondale CommunityRinardShermans Valley Church

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

Help out

Start Broad Top Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

On the National Register

1 listing protects 79 historic buildings

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

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1992

Woodvale Historic District

Districts

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular Workers' Housing1

Company Town1

Woodvale Historic DistrictVernacular Workers' Housing

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

The story so far

Broad Top Township, in brief

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

Broad Top City is a borough in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 371 at the 2020 census, a decline from the figure of 452 tabulated in 2010.

Broad Top Township was established in 1868. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,687 to 1,441 (-15%).

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

Timeline

Broad Top Township, 1862 to 1940

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

19th century
1862Post officeThe Riddlesburg post office opens
1868
FoundingBroad Top Township is established
1884Post officeThe Kearney post office opens
1889Post officeThe Defiance post office opens
20th century
1930On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1937Post officeThe Kearney post office closes
1940CensusPopulation peaks at 610

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.

Add from your album

On the map

Broad Top Township on the map, 1930 to 1994

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

1930Broad Top 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 Broad Top Township.

People over time

Broad Top Township, census by census

Peaked at 610 in 1940; 367 people lived here in 2020.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Broad Top Township

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

See all →

Dean KoontzAmerican writer and screenwriter · b. 1945

Sandra FlukeAmerican women's rights activist and lawyer · b. 1981

Robert E. EvansAmerican politician · b. 1856

Earl HowardAmerican baseball player · b. 1896

Hughie TateAmerican baseball player · b. 1880

William PiperAmerican politician · b. 1774

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Hopewell Township1 historic placeB East Providence Township2 historic placesA⁻Liberty TownshipIts storyB⁻HopewellIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Wells TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town RiddlesburgIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Carbon Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town West Providence TownshipIts storyC⁺Hopewell TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Broad Top Township’s history

What year was Broad Top Township founded?

In 1868, according to Wikidata. Broad Top Township’s post office opened in 1862, and the census of 1870 counted 327 people here.

How does Broad Top Township rank for history?

Broad Top Township is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns. 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.

What is on the National Register in Broad Top Township?

One place: the Woodvale Historic District (listed 1992).

How old are the homes in Broad Top Township?

33% of Broad Top Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.8 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1968.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

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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).

From 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.

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