The story
Read it all →How Buffington Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Buffington Township.
The Eliza Furnace was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B−History
History · Buffington Township
Buffington Township’s post office opened in 1879, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Eliza Furnace. Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 1870.
1879first post office
1on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Buffington Township began
When was Buffington Township founded?
1879
The Buffington Township post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Buffington (1879), Croft (1890) and Rexis (1901), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 877 in 18702020 census: 1,225147 years
How historic is Buffington Township?
B−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 48% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Buffington Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Buffington Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Buffington Township is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Buffington Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1879, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194010.5% of homes (±4.4) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 6.2 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 48%
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 Buffington Township’s 6.2 sits above most of its state (70% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Buffington Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Buffington Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Buffington Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19023 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1972. Watch Buffington Township change.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,021 in 1920; 1,242 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Buffington
Dilltown
Croft
Rexis
Blaides
Wehrum
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
RexisWehrum
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Buffington Township
Black LickConradEast Union - McCartney
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Buffington Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Buffington Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Buffington Township on the map, 1902 to 1972
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Buffington Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1902Barnesboro sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Buffington Township.
Timeline
Buffington Township, 1879 to 1920
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1879Post officeThe Buffington post office opens
- 1887Post officeThe Dilltown post office opens
- 1890Post officeThe Croft post office opens
- 20th century
- 1902
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1904Post officeThe Buffington post office closes
- 1919Post officeThe Croft post office closes
- 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 2,021
By decade
Buffington Township, decade by decade
2021
2008On the National Register
1 historic place in Buffington Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1991
Eliza Furnace
Structures
Architectural styles listings
Iron Furnace1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Buffington Township, census by census
Peaked at 2,021 in 1920; 1,242 people lived here in 2020.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Buffington Township’s Wikipedia page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Buffington Township’s history
What year was Buffington Township founded?
The Buffington Township post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Buffington Township rank for history?
Buffington Township is more historic than 48% 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 Buffington Township?
One place: the Eliza Furnace (listed 1991).
How old are the homes in Buffington Township?
11% of Buffington Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.4 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1979.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
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 Wikimedia Commons (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.