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History · Chest Township

12% of Chest Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 2000.

0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Nyttend · Public domain

What stands out about Chest 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 Chest Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19025 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1994. Watch Chest Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Chest Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Chest 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

Chest Township on the map, 1902 to 1994

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

Chest Township on the 1902 USGS mapChest Township on the 1961 USGS mapChest Township on the 1972 USGS mapChest Township on the 1981 USGS mapChest Township on the 1994 USGS map1902Patton 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 Chest Township.

The story so far

Chest Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Chest Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Chest Township is a township in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 458 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 349 to 457 (+31%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Chest Township, 1869 to 1955

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1869Post officeThe Saint Lawrence post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1955Post officeThe Saint Lawrence post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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People over time

Chest Township, census by census

010020030040050020002020Peak: 458

Between 346 and 458 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Chest Township

Nobody well known was born in Chest Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
R
Rembert WeaklandAmerican archbishop · b. 1927
Marvin L. EschAmerican politician · b. 1927
Edgar M. CortrightSenior NASA official-administrator and engineer… · b. 1923
Dick SmithMajor League Baseball infielder · b. 1926
Boyd WagnerUnited States Army Air Forces flying ace · b. 1916
F
Fern MichaelsAmerican writer · b. 1933
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Another post office, Saint Lawrence, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Saint LawrenceThomas Mills
1cemetery inside Chest Township
Saint Lawrence

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Elder TownshipIts storyBPatton1 historic placeA+White TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Chest Township’s history

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From 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.