Half of Center Township’s homes were built after 1976
More historic than 23% of U.S. towns · #987 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Most of Center Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1909 on, and old-book passages.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Center Township is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns, #987 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Center Township’s overall grade.
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 Center Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 (±3.5 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 Center Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Center Township
Church of GodRider LutheranUnionville
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Center Township on the map, 1909 to 1993
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Center Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1909Butler 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 Center Township.
Formed from the upper third of Middlesex Township as Centre Township in 1804, when the four original 1800 townships of the county were partitioned into thirteen townships. Centre remained eight miles square, until the 1854 reorganization into townships approximately five miles square, when a portion of North Butler (renamed Butler) Township moved the southern boundary of Centre about a mile south, while the northern boundary moved over three miles south to its current location when sections were removed to become the southern part of Clay Township. while western sections were transferred to Franklin Township. Centre's eastern sections contributed to portions of Concord Township and Oakland Township. There is no specific date when the spelling of Centre Township was officially changed to Center Township. The transition from "Centre" to "Center" occurred gradually over time due to the evo…
Passages that mention Center Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Butler County Pennsylvania1927 · page 506Read the page →
Read the text
Center Township. A number of these early settlers were of Trish origin, as their names indicate, and their descendants have filled many places of honor in Butler County and in other sections. There appears to have been comparatively little trouble with the Indians encountered by the early men of Center Township, the most notable disturbance having taken place in 1797, when the savages made demonstrations which resulted in some of the colonists returning to the more civilized part of the state. The names of the early pos-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Center Township, 1819 to 1909
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Center Township is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns, #987 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.
How old are the homes in Center Township?
8% of Center 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 1976.
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 (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
