Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1909 on, and old-book passages.
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clay Township is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Clay 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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Clay Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Clay Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Clay Township.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Clay Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Clay Township is a township in Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,547 at the 2020 census.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,703 to 2,551 (-6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Clay Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Clay Township, named for Henry Clay, was organized in 1854. This township is drained by Muddycreek, which rises near West Sunbury and flows westward through the southern half, and by tributaries of Slippery Rock Creek which rise north of West Sunbury and flow northward. A small area in the southern corner is drained by the tributaries of Connoquenessing Creek.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Muddycreek Presbyterian Church, located in Clay Township, is one of the oldest religious organizations in Butler County. As early as 1799 Rev. John McPherrin held services in this neighborhood and later organized this church in 1803. Rev. McPherrin continued as supply pastor for two years, and in 1805 was installed pastor and so remained until 1808. On September 10, 1823, Rev. John Coulter was installed pastor and continued until 1850. The first house of worship was erected in 1803, which*was used until 1824, when a new and
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Butler County - Clay - ED 10-41
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Clay Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Clay Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Clay Township is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns. 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.
13% of Clay Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1980.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (2), 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.
2015
