More historic than 32% of U.S. towns · #937 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Most of Cranberry Township was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1906 on, and the census since 1870.
From Cranberry Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Cranberry Township began
When was Cranberry Township founded?
1830
The Cranberry Township post office opened in 1830, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Cranberry (1830) and Ogle (1850), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 479 in 18702020 census: 33,096196 years
How historic is Cranberry Township?
C
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Cranberry Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Cranberry Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cranberry Township is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #937 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cranberry Township’s overall grade.
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 Cranberry 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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size. 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 Cranberry Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Cranberry Township
Dutilh United Methodist ChurchOak Hill Alliance ChurchPinewood Memorial GardensPlains United Presbyterian ChurchSaint Johns Lutheran Church
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Cranberry Township on the map, 1906 to 1979
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cranberry Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1906Sewickley 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 Cranberry Township.
In 1753, George Washington, then 21, was working for the Virginia Colony's British governor and hiked through what became Cranberry Township along the Venango Path. His assignment was to deliver a message to the commander of the rival French Fort LeBoeuf that ordered the French to withdraw from northern Pennsylvania. The commander rejected the order, precipitating the French and Indian War, which the British and their colonies ultimately won but at a cost.
Passages that mention Cranberry Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Butler County Pennsylvania1927 · page 692Read the page →
Read the text
Crider’s Corners Methodist Episcopal Church is located in Cranberry Township. There was no Methodist Society in Cranberry Township until 1879. In 1879 the trustees of Plains Church living principally in Cranberry Township decided to build a church edifice in this township. The church was built near what is known as Criders’ Corners.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Butler County Pennsylvania1927 · page 521Read the page →
Read the text
Cranberry Township is situated in the southwestern corner of the county, and is one of the thirteen townships into which the county was divided in 1804. The township is said to have derived its name from the fact that, in the early days, a cranberry swamp existed near its southern limits. Its surface is watered by the tributaries of Breakneck on the east, and Brush Creek on the west. The township is rich in coal and oil, but the principal business of the inhabitants for the first century of its existence was agriculture. The
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.
Timeline
Cranberry Township, 1830 to 1990
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Cranberry Township post office opened in 1830, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Cranberry Township rank for history?
Cranberry Township is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #937 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 Cranberry Township?
1% of Cranberry Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1996.
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 (6), 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), 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.
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