Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns · #315 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 9 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1912 on, and the census since 1980.
The Colerain Township post office opened in 1823, the earliest record of the town by name. Six smaller post offices, Colerain (1823), Andrew's Bridge (1824) and Octoraro (1850), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Colerain Township is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #315 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Colerain Township’s 30.4 sits above most of its state (84% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 12 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Six 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 Colerain Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Colerain 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 Colerain Township.
From Wikipedia’s history of Colerain Township.
The White Rock Forge Covered Bridge, John Douglass House, and Andrews Bridge Historic District are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereMarriott Henry Brosius is born here
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Lancaster County - ED 36-1…
Born hereWilliam Cameron Sproul is born here
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Lancaster County - Colerain - ED 3…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to 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 Colerain Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 2,118 and 3,883 people in every census since 1980.
5 censuses, 1980–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Colerain Township’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Colerain Township post office opened in 1823, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Colerain Township is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #315 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.
Three places: the White Rock Forge Covered Bridge (listed 1980), the Andrews Bridge Historic District (1988) and the John Douglass House (1990).
11% of Colerain Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 (5), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
2020
2013
2012