The story
Read it all →How Centre Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Centre Township.
Belleman's Union Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B+History
History · Centre Township
19% of Centre Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns · #491 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Bellman's Union Church. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1980.
1on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
1famous people
Quick answers
About Centre Township’s history
How historic is Centre Township?
B+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 69% 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 69% of U.S. towns, #491 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
B+
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 194018.6% of homes (±6.5) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register1 listing, 2.4 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 69%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 53%
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 2.4 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±6.5 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 Centre 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 writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Centre Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19027 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1992. Watch Centre Township change.
★ 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
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Mohrsville
Garfield
Dauberville
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
DaubervilleGarfieldMohrsville
Gone or out of use
Grube AirportairportHamburg Stationlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Centre Township
Bellemans ChurchViewpoint
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Centre Township on the map, 1902 to 1992
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Centre Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1902Wernersville sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Centre Township.
Timeline
Centre Township, 1836 to 1965
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1836Post officeThe Mohrsville post office opens
- 1853
Born hereMonroe Althouse is born here - 1862
In the archiveTownship map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, from actual surveys - 1880
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Berks County - Centre - ED 6-18 - 1880Post officeThe Garfield post office opens
- 1889Post officeThe Dauberville post office opens
- 20th century
- 1902
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1907Post officeThe Garfield post office closes
- 1965Post officeThe Dauberville post office closes
By decade
Centre Township, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1860s–1880s2 items
1890s–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?Today1 recent
2014Then & 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 view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Berks County - Centre - ED 6-18, 1880
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 historic place in Centre Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Bellman's Union Church
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Georgian1
Gothic1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Centre Township, census by census
Between 2,329 and 4,140 people in every census since 1980.
5 censuses, 1980–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Centre Township’s Wikipedia page.
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 69% of U.S. towns, #491 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 Bellman's Union Church (listed 1973).
How old are the homes in Centre Township?
19% of Centre Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.5 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1982.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.