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History · Canal Township

Canal Township’s post office opened in 1835, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1909 on and the census since 2000.

1835first post office
0on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Canal Township began

When was Canal Township founded?

1835

The Canal Township post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Canal (1835), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 1 in 20002020 census: 937191 years
Founding year: the first Canal Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Canal Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Canal Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19094 editions of the USGS map, 1909 to 1972. Watch Canal Township change.Deep rootsA post office since 1835: 191 years of Canal Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Canal Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Canal 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

Canal Township on the map, 1909 to 1972

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

Canal Township on the 1909 USGS mapCanal Township on the 1911 USGS mapCanal Township on the 1963 USGS mapCanal Township on the 1972 USGS map1909Franklin 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 Canal Township.

Timeline

Canal Township, 1835 to 1909

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1835Post officeThe Canal post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902Post officeThe Canal post office closes
  5. 1909On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story so far

Canal Township, in brief

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

Canal Township is a township in Venango County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 934 at the 2020 census, a decrease from 1,203 in 2010, which was, in turn, an increase over the figure of 1,008 tabulated as of the 2000 census.

Its first post office opened in 1835. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,023 to 937 (-8%).

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

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
People over time

Canal Township, census by census

02004006008001,00020002020Peak: 1,023

Between 1 and 1,023 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Canal Township

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

See all →
Josephine McKimAmerican swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, former… · b. 1910
Gabby GabreskiAmerican flying ace · b. 1919
Woody JacksonAmerican composer · b. 1970
Alexander HaysUnion Army general · b. 1819
Alexander McDowellPolitician · b. 1845
F
Francis Patrick McFarlandCatholic bishop · b. 1819
Places that used to be

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

Another post office, Canal, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Canal CenterHannasville
Gone or out of use
Port Roydel Airportairport
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Canal Township
OakwoodPeters

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Frenchcreek TownshipIts storyCWayne TownshipIts storyC+Jackson TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townUticaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSugarcreekIts storyA−

Questions about Canal Township’s history

What year was Canal Township founded?

The Canal Township post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From 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.