The story
Read it all →How Centre Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Centre Township.
The Little Buffalo Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A−History
History · Centre Township
16% of Centre Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns · #324 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 4 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1952 on, and old-book passages.
1on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Quick answers
About Centre Township’s history
How historic is Centre Township?
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What drives the grade ↓More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Centre Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Centre Township is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #324 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Centre Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194016.1% of homes (±4.4) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register1 listing, 4 historic buildings, 15.8 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 80%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 69%
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 Centre Township’s 15.8 sits above most of its state (81% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% 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 (±4.4 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 Centre Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Centre Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Centre Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Mansville
Mannsville
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Juniata FurnaceMannsvilleMcKee
Gone or out of use
Bloomfield JunctionlocaleHoffmanlocaleMahanoylocaleNew Bloomfield AirportairportSylvanlocale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From the old history books
What they wrote about Centre Township in 1922
Passages that mention Centre Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Perry County, Pennsylvania, including descriptions of Indians and pioneer life from the time of earliest settlement1922 · page 471Read the page →
Read the text
The act of March 11, 1850, made it illegal to erect a free bridge within one mile of a toll bridge over the Juniata River. The act of March 11, 1851, compelled the supervisors to open a road from Finlaw McCowen's (the Oliver Rice farm, in Centre Township) to Caroline Furnace (Bailey's Station), in Miller Township. That and other minor acts relating to Perry County were passed at that session.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History Of Perry County, Pennsylvania1922 · page 326Read the page →
Read the text
pupils. He was then sixteen years old, and fifteen of his pupils were older than he was. Mr. Palm was 82 years of age in February, 1921, which would place the time of his entry into the profession in 1855. ‘The late John W. Soule, of Centre Township, was another veteran teacher, having taught thirty terms. The late Wm. A. Meminger was another veteran, having taught thirty-one consecutive terms. He began teaching in 1862. He was also a surveyor for twenty-three years and long a justice of the peace in
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
Centre Township, 1851 to 1970
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1851Post officeThe Mansville post office opens
- 1854Post officeThe Mansville post office closes
- 1867Post officeThe Mannsville post office opens
- 20th century
- 1915Post officeThe Mannsville post office closes
- 1952
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1970
In the archiveLITTLE BUFFALO HISTORIC DISTRICTY
By decade
Centre Township, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1970s1 item
1980s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your albumDate unknown1 to date
Date?
2025
2025
2009
2006On the map
Centre Township on the map, 1952 to 1973
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Centre Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1952Newport sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Centre Township.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewLITTLE BUFFALO HISTORIC DISTRICTY, 1970
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Centre Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
1 listing protects 4 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
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Little Buffalo Historic District
Districts
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Centre Township
Nobody well known was born in Centre Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Centre Township’s history
How does Centre Township rank for history?
Centre Township is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #324 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 Centre Township?
One place: the Little Buffalo Historic District (listed 1978).
How old are the homes in Centre Township?
16% of Centre 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 1986.
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 (5), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), 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.