The story
Read it all →How Cromwell Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Cromwell Township.
The St. Mary's Covered Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B+History
History · Cromwell Township
18% of Cromwell Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the St. Mary's Covered Bridge. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1939 on, and the census since 2000.
1on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Quick answers
About Cromwell Township’s history
How historic is Cromwell Township?
B+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Cromwell Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cromwell Township is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cromwell Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194018.1% of homes (±5.0) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register1 listing, 8.0 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 74%
NewerOlder
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 Cromwell Township’s 8.0 sits above most of its state (74% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.0 points).
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 →
What stands out about Cromwell Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Cromwell Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Old burying grounds15 cemeteries and burying grounds inside Cromwell Township.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Cromwell Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cromwell Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hill Valley
Engeart
Pogue
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Pogue
Gone or out of use
Colgate SchoolschoolHill Valley ChurchchurchNarrows SchoolschoolOrbisonia QuarrymineSaint Marys ChurchchurchWhitsel Schoolschool
15cemeteries and burying grounds inside Cromwell Township
Bare - GarverBolinger FamilyChilcoat FamilyFlasher FamilyGillilandJordanMcKendree Methodist ChurchMonroe ChurchOld LoganOrbisoniaPriceRockhill Independent Order of Odd FellowsSaint Mary'sSugar Run BrethrenSwartz
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Cromwell Township, 1866 to 1970
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1866Post officeThe Hill Valley post office opens
- 1884Post officeThe Hill Valley post office closes
- 1889Post officeThe Engeart post office opens
- 1890Post officeThe Engeart post office closes
- 1898Post officeThe Pogue post office opens
- 20th century
- 1910Post officeThe Pogue post office closes
- 1931Born hereRuth Matlack is born here
- 1939
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1970
In the archiveST. MARY'S COVERED BRIDGE
By decade
Cromwell Township, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1970s1 item
1980s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
2024
2024
2024
2011
2008On the map
Cromwell Township on the map, 1939 to 1973
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cromwell Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1939Orbisonia 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 Cromwell Township.
Then & 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 viewST. MARY'S COVERED BRIDGE, 1970
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Cromwell Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
1 historic place in Cromwell 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
St. Mary's Covered Bridge
Structures
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Cromwell Township, census by census
Between 1,475 and 1,632 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cromwell Township’s Wikipedia page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Shirley Township3 historic placesA−Tell TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCass TownshipIts storyBDublin Township1 historic placeA−Springfield Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townClay TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Questions about Cromwell Township’s history
How does Cromwell Township rank for history?
Cromwell Township is more historic than 74% 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.
What is on the National Register in Cromwell Township?
One place: the St. Mary's Covered Bridge (listed 1980).
How old are the homes in Cromwell Township?
18% of Cromwell Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.