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DHistory
History · Center Township

Center Township’s post office opened in 1962

More historic than 14% of U.S. towns · #1,023 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it

Most of Center Township was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: maps from 1901 on and the census since 1970.

1962first post office
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Ombsz · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Center Township began

When was Center Township founded?

1962

The Center Township post office opened in 1962, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Shafers (1880), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 10,598 in 19702020 census: 11,64864 years

How historic is Center Township?

D

More historic than 14% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Center Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Center Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Center Township is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #1,023 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Center Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1962, from the first post office: founded 1945 or later, an older era than 2% of U.S. townsD−Homes built before 19409.5% of homes (±4.6) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical PA town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 14%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)#1,023 of 1,035

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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.6 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 Center 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 Center Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19014 editions of the USGS map, 1901 to 1979. Watch Center Township change.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Center Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Center Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Center 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

Center Township on the map, 1901 to 1979

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

Center Township on the 1901 USGS mapCenter Township on the 1953 USGS mapCenter Township on the 1969 USGS mapCenter Township on the 1979 USGS map1901Beaver 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.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Shafers
1880–1901
Center
1962–1965
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Stobo
8cemeteries and burying grounds inside Center Township
BakerMcGuire ChapelMount CarmelNorth BranchSaint John the BaptistSaint TitusUnionVan Kirk

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

The story

How Center Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Center Township.

Read it all →

Prior to colonial explorers, native Indians traveled the "Glade Path", an important trail crossing the future township from north to south. One family of settlers in Beaver Valley, the Bakers, made their home in 1774 in the hills above Raccoon Creek near what is now Pleasant Drive in Center Township. At that time, all lands south of the Ohio had been claimed by Virginia, with the seat of government at Pittsburgh. During the course of the Revolutionary War, Fort McIntosh was constructed at Beaver to aid settlers in defense against the Indians and the British at Detroit. Supplies were brought from Pittsburgh along the old Indian path. The trace was renamed Brodhead's Road, after the commander of Fort McIntosh.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Center Township, 1880 to 1965

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Shafers post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1901Post officeThe Shafers post office closes
  5. 1901On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1937Born hereEdwin D. Hill is born here
  7. 1962Post officeThe Center post office opens
  8. 1965Post officeThe Center post office closes
By decade

Center Township, decade by decade

Today14 recent
Center Township, PA, USA2013Center Township, PA, USACenter Township, PA, USA - panoramio (5)2013Center Township, PA, USA - panoramio (5)Center Township, PA, USA - panoramio (4)2013Center Township, PA, USA - panoramio (4)Center Township, PA, USA - panoramio (3)2013Center Township, PA, USA - panoramio (3)Center Township, PA, USA - panoramio (2)2013Center Township, PA, USA - panoramio (2)Center Township, PA, USA - panoramio (1)2013Center Township, PA, USA - panoramio (1)20130512 193204.jpg201320130512 193204.jpgPennsylvania State Route 512012Pennsylvania State Route 51Todd Lane Elementary School2007Todd Lane Elementary SchoolSign of Center Township Municipal2007Sign of Center Township MunicipalSarge Alberts Stadium2007Sarge Alberts StadiumCentral Valley High School2007Central Valley High SchoolCenter Grange Primary School2007Center Grange Primary SchoolCCBC Dome2007CCBC Dome
People over time

Center Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,000198020002020Peak: 11,795

Between 10,598 and 11,795 people in every census since 1970.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Raccoon TownshipIts storyCMonacaIts storyB+Potter TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHopewell Township1 historic placeC+ConwayIts storyC

Questions about Center Township’s history

What year was Center Township founded?

The Center Township post office opened in 1962, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Center Township rank for history?

Center Township is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #1,023 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?

10% of Center Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1974.

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 Wikimedia Commons (14), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.