Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Bushkill Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
B+History
History · Bushkill Township

1 of Bushkill Township’s places is on the National Register

More historic than 70% of U.S. towns · #462 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it

Most of Bushkill Township was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: maps from 1914 on and the census since 2000.

1on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

About Bushkill Township’s history

How historic is Bushkill Township?

B+

More historic than 70% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Bushkill Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bushkill Township is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #462 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bushkill Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19409.7% of homes (±3.2) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 11 historic buildings, 12.8 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 70%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 55%

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 Bushkill Township’s 12.8 sits above most of its state (79% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 11 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.2 points).

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 →

What stands out about Bushkill Township’s past

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

Lost villages7 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Bushkill Township, and 13 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Bushkill Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19146 editions of the USGS map, 1914 to 1997. Watch Bushkill Township change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

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

Jacobsburgh
1830–1856
Boston
1850–1862
Bush Kiln Centre
1857–1885
Bushkill Centre
1885–1904
Aluta
1886–1904
Katellen
1887–1910
Knechts
1898–1904
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AlutaBoultonBushkill CenterCherry HillClearfieldDouglassvilleFiletownHaynes MillJacobsburgKatellenKnechtsRismillerSours Mills

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

Help out

Start Bushkill Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bushkill 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 map

Bushkill Township on the map, 1914 to 1997

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

Bushkill Township on the 1914 USGS mapBushkill Township on the 1943 USGS mapBushkill Township on the 1960 USGS mapBushkill Township on the 1970 USGS mapBushkill Township on the 1983 USGS mapBushkill Township on the 1997 USGS map1914Wind Gap 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 Bushkill Township.

The story so far

Bushkill Township, in brief

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

Bushkill Township is a township in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its population was 8,490 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 8,178 to 8,482 (+4%).

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

Timeline

Bushkill Township, 1830 to 1959

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1830Post officeThe Jacobsburgh post office opens
  3. 1850Post officeThe Boston post office opens
  4. 1856Post officeThe Jacobsburgh post office closes
  5. 1857Post officeThe Bush Kiln Centre post office opens
  6. 1862Post officeThe Boston post office closes
  7. 1885Post officeThe Bush Kiln Centre post office closes
  8. 20th century
  9. 1914On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1959BuiltJacobsburg Historic District is built
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 National Register

1 listing protects 11 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
11
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
Jacobsburg Historic District
Jacobsburg Historic District, built 1959
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Federal1
Jacobsburg Historic DistrictFederal · Built 1959

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

People over time

Bushkill Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00020002020Peak: 8,490

Between 6,982 and 8,490 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Bushkill Township

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

See all →
Marco AndrettiAmerican race car driver · b. 1987
Sage KaramAmerican racing driver · b. 1995
Everett KentAmerican politician · b. 1888
C
Carl Henry HoffmanAmerican politician · b. 1896
W
Walt MastersAmerican baseball player and gridiron football … · b. 1907
G
George LakeyAmerican activist, sociologist, and writer · b. 1937
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Moore Township1 historic placeB−Upper Nazareth TownshipIts storyC−Ross Township1 historic placeB−Plainfield TownshipIts storyB−

Questions about Bushkill Township’s history

How does Bushkill Township rank for history?

Bushkill Township is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #462 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.

What is on the National Register in Bushkill Township?

One place: the Jacobsburg Historic District (listed 1977).

How old are the homes in Bushkill Township?

10% of Bushkill Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1987.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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 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.