Cheltenham Township’s post office opened in 1855, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns · #288 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
14 places in town are on the National Register, among them 2 National Historic Landmarks and three historic districts with 216 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1893 on.
The Cheltenham Township post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name. Ten smaller post offices, Edge Hill (1851), Shoemakertown (1857) and Waverly Heights (1867), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 37,452171 years
How historic is Cheltenham Township?
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More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Cheltenham Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Cheltenham Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cheltenham Township is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #288 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cheltenham 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 Cheltenham Township’s 61.5 sits above most of its state (87% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 236 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share (±2.4 points) is firm at this size. 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 Cheltenham Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Cheltenham Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Cheltenham Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Cheltenham is an unincorporated community in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania, United States, with a ZIP code of 19012. It is located directly over the city line (Cheltenham Avenue) of Philadelphia. It also borders Northeast Philadelphia over the Fox Chase Line on the east and over Cottman Avenue (PA 73) on the north side. The community is listed for statistical purposes as the Cheltenham Village census-designated place. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 1,993. By the mid-1980s, many Korean Americans moved out of Logan, Philadelphia and moved into Cheltenham and other communities. Cheltenham is represented by Madeleine Dean in the 4th Congressional District. As of 2016, Taiwanes…
Its first post office opened in 1855. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 36,793 in 2010, 37,452 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Cheltenham Township, 1682 to 2007
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cheltenham Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1893Germantown 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 Cheltenham Township.
Famous people
7 famous people were born in Cheltenham Township
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Cheltenham Township post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Cheltenham Township rank for history?
Cheltenham Township is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #288 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 Cheltenham Township?
14 listings, 2 of them National Historic Landmarks: 10 buildings, among them the Grey Towers (a National Historic Landmark since 1985) and the Wall House (listed 1979, the first), 3 historic districts, the Camptown Historic District, the Wyncote Historic District and the Lynnewood Hall, with 216 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 236 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Cheltenham Township?
29% of Cheltenham Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.4 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1954.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (14), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
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