Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns · #353 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Its Register listing is the St. Joseph's Parish Complex. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1900.
The Collingdale post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1891.
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Collingdale is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #353 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls 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 Collingdale’s 6.7 sits above most of its state (71% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% 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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Collingdale. 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 Collingdale.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Collingdale yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Collingdale is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,908 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1888. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 8,786 in 2010, 8,908 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
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 - Delaware County - Collingdale - ED…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereCyrus Derman is born here
In the archiveBaltimore and Ohio Railroad : Locomotive BO 5306 "President Van Buren"
In the archiveCollingdale station bomb damage Sept. 1940
In the archiveSEPTA 88 in Collingdale, May 19764 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2025First Baptist Church, Collingdale, PA, Nov. 2025
2025Collingdale, PA Community Center (2), Nov. 2025
2025Collingdale, PA Community Center (1), Nov. 2025
2019World War I Pennsylvania Colored Soldier Memorial in …
2019Pauline Richardson Oberdorfer Minor gravestone
2018ST. JOSEPH PARISH COMPLEX
2017NorthStreet
2017MacDade
2017Collingdale DelCo PA Public Library
2017AndrewsAvenue
2015Bartram Ave SEPTA station
2007Collingdale, Delaware County, PennsylvaniaNo 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 Collingdale’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 603 and 10,605 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Collingdale’s Wikipedia page.
Collingdale had its own post office from 1888 to 1907.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Collingdale post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1891.
Collingdale is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #353 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.
One place: the St. Joseph's Parish Complex (listed 2018).
37% of Collingdale’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.4 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1951.
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 (16), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
1880