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DHistory
History · Chestnuthill Township

Half of Chestnuthill Township’s homes were built after 1986

More historic than 12% of U.S. towns · #1,030 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it

Most of Chestnuthill Township was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: maps from 1914 on and the census since 2000.

0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
Photo: Nicholas A. Tonelli from Pennsylvania, USA · CC BY 2.0
Quick answers

About Chestnuthill Township’s history

How historic is Chestnuthill Township?

D

More historic than 12% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Chestnuthill Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Chestnuthill Township is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #1,030 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Chestnuthill Township’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 12%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)#1,030 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 Chestnuthill 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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±1.2 points) is firm at this size.

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 Chestnuthill Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Chesnut Hill
1813–1828
Merwinburgh
1848–1886
Effort
1850–today
Brodheadsville
1852–today
Gilbert
1868–today
McMichaels
1873–1908
McIlhaney
1880–1908
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BrodheadsvilleEffortGilbertMcIlhaneyMcMichaelMechanicsvilleMerwinsburgSun ValleyWeir Lake
Gone or out of use
Mexico SchoolschoolPleasant Valley Airportairport
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Chestnuthill Township
Buena VistaGilbertGreen RidgeHillside MemorialMcMichaelsOld Brodheadsville

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

Help out

Start Chestnuthill Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Chestnuthill Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
On the map

Chestnuthill Township on the map, 1914 to 1992

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

Chestnuthill Township on the 1914 USGS mapChestnuthill Township on the 1943 USGS mapChestnuthill Township on the 1960 USGS mapChestnuthill Township on the 1970 USGS mapChestnuthill Township on the 1983 USGS mapChestnuthill Township on the 1992 USGS map1914Wind Gap 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 Chestnuthill Township.

The story so far

Chestnuthill Township, in brief

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

Chestnuthill Township is a township in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 16,708 at the 2020 census.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 17,156 to 16,723 (-3%).

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

Timeline

Chestnuthill Township, 1813 to 1914

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1813Post officeThe Chesnut Hill post office opens
  3. 1828Post officeThe Chesnut Hill post office closes
  4. 1848Post officeThe Merwinburgh post office opens
  5. 1850Post officeThe Effort post office opens
  6. 1886Post officeThe Merwinburgh post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1914On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.
Add from your album
People over time

Chestnuthill Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,00018,00020002020Peak: 17,156

Between 14,418 and 17,156 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Chestnuthill Township

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

See all →
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Questions about Chestnuthill Township’s history

How does Chestnuthill Township rank for history?

Chestnuthill Township is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #1,030 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 Chestnuthill Township?

2% of Chestnuthill Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 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.

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 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.