The Cross Creek Township post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Pattersons Mills (1830), Woodrow (1854) and Cross Creek (1900), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,371126 years
How historic is Cross Creek Township?
B
More historic than 57% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Cross Creek Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Cross Creek Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cross Creek Township is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cross Creek 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 Cross Creek Township’s 5.8 sits above most of its state (69% 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 C to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.0 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 Cross Creek Township’s past
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 Cross Creek Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1904Burgettstown 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 Cross Creek Township.
The story so far
Cross Creek Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Cross Creek Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Cross Creek is a census-designated place located in Cross Creek Township, Washington County in the state of Pennsylvania. The community is located in northern Washington County about 2 miles southwest of the community of Atlasburg. As of the 2010 census the population was 137 residents.
Its first post office opened in 1900. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,556 to 1,371 (-12%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Cross Creek Township in 1910
Passages that mention Cross Creek Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
20th century history of the city of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania1910 · page 595Read the page →
Read the text
which State he later returned to Pennsylvania. When he next left Washington County it was to engage in the gas fitting business for a time, at Andover, Ohio. In U'05 he came back to Cross Creek Township and became manager of the branch store at Rea Station for the firm of I. il. Reed & Son, of Cross Creek village and also was appointed U. S. rural mail carrier. In October, 1908, he purchased the store he had formerly been operating
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
Cross Creek Township, 1830 to 1962
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Cross Creek Township post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Cross Creek Township rank for history?
Cross Creek Township is more historic than 57% 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 Cross Creek Township?
One place: the Wilson's Mill Covered Bridge (listed 1979).
How old are the homes in Cross Creek Township?
36% of Cross Creek Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1959.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
