The story
Read it all →How Conemaugh Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Conemaugh Township.
The Shaffer's Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: White Feather Safari Inspecting Life · CC BY 2.0AHistory
History · Conemaugh Township
Conemaugh Township’s post office opened in 1828, and 39% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 87% of U.S. towns · #235 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Shaffer's Bridge. Below: 3 old photos and papers and maps from 1914 on.
1828first post office
1on the National Register
39%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
1famous people
Quick answers
How Conemaugh Township began
When was Conemaugh Township founded?
1828
The Conemaugh Township post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Conemaugh (1828), Kauffman (1881) and Mishler (1891), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 6,760198 years
How historic is Conemaugh Township?
A
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 87% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Conemaugh Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Conemaugh Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Conemaugh Township is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #235 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Conemaugh Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1828, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194039.3% of homes (±7.3) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register1 listing, 1.5 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 87%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 77%
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 Conemaugh Township’s 1.5 sits near the middle of its state (55% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Conemaugh Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Conemaugh Township, and 9 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19144 editions of the USGS map, 1914 to 1994. Watch Conemaugh Township change.Old housesHalf of Conemaugh Township’s homes were built before 1951.
★ 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.
Conemaugh
Davidsville
Kauffman
Mishler
Jerome
Maple Ridge
Tire Hill
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bens CreekDavidsvilleFoustwellHollsoppleJeromeKringsMaple RidgeThomas MillTire Hill
Gone or out of use
Centennial ChurchchurchKaufman SchoolschoolWertz Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Conemaugh Township
Kaufman
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Conemaugh Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Conemaugh 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
Conemaugh Township on the map, 1914 to 1994
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Conemaugh Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1914Windber sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Conemaugh Township.
Timeline
Conemaugh Township, 1828 to 1914
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1828Post officeThe Conemaugh post office opens
- 1830Post officeThe Conemaugh post office closes
- 1832Post officeThe Davidsville post office opens
- 1850
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Somerset County - ED 56-13… - 1860
In the archiveMap of Conemaugh Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, from 1860 Somerset County Map b… - 1881Post officeThe Kauffman post office opens
- 1881Post officeThe Kauffman post office closes
- 20th century
- 1908
Born hereJohn P. Saylor is born here - 1914
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Conemaugh Township, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1850s–1860s3 items
1860Today9 recent
2024PA 601 sb past US 219 near Jerome, May 2024
2024PA 601 sb in Jerome (3), May 2024
2024PA 601 sb in Jerome (2), May 2024
2024PA 601 sb in Jerome (1), May 2024
2024PA 601 sb entering Jerome, May 2024
2024PA 601 sb entering Jenner Twp., May 2024
20222022-09-09 17 46 38 UTC minus 4 Aerial view of southw…
2009Jerome PO
2008Map of Somerset County, Pennsylvania highlighting Con…MapThen & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Somerset County - ED 56-13, ED 56-14, ED 56-15, 1850
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Conemaugh Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
1 historic place in Conemaugh Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Shaffer's Bridge
Structures
Architectural styles listings
Burr Truss1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Paint TownshipIts storyC−Jenner Township2 historic placesARichland TownshipIts storyC+BensonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townQuemahoning Township2 historic placesA−Fairfield Township1 historic placeBStonycreek TownshipIts storyC+BelmontIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townUpper Yoder TownshipIts storyB−JeromeIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Questions about Conemaugh Township’s history
What year was Conemaugh Township founded?
The Conemaugh Township post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Conemaugh Township rank for history?
Conemaugh Township is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #235 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.
What is on the National Register in Conemaugh Township?
One place: the Shaffer's Bridge (listed 1980).
How old are the homes in Conemaugh Township?
39% of Conemaugh Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1951.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikimedia Commons (11), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.