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–Not graded
History · Curtin Township

25% of Curtin Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1928 on, and the census since 2000.

0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Curtin Township’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Curtin 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 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Curtin Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Curtin Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Curtin Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo3 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewGingher House (Ruins), Legislative Rout…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Romala
1882–1905
Orviston
1909–1968
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
OrvistonRomola
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Curtin Township
Eden ReformedLucasRomola ChristianSummit Hill

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Curtin Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Curtin Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Curtin Township is a township in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 500 at the 2020 census.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 618 to 494 (-20%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Curtin Township, 1882 to 1968

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Romala post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1905Post officeThe Romala post office closes
  5. 1909Post officeThe Orviston post office opens
  6. 1928On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1968Post officeThe Orviston post office closes
By decade

Curtin Township, decade by decade

Date unknown3 to date
Gingher House (Ruins), Legislative Route 14010 (Boggs Township)Date?Gingher House (Ruins), Legislative Route 14010 (Boggs…Bathurst House (Ruins), Legislative Route 14010 (Boggs Township)Date?Bathurst House (Ruins), Legislative Route 14010 (Bogg…Charles Schultz House (Ruins), Legislative Route 14010 (Boggs Township)Date?Charles Schultz House (Ruins), Legislative Route 1401…
On the map

Curtin Township on the map, 1928 to 1995

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Curtin Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Curtin Township on the 1928 USGS mapCurtin Township on the 1931 USGS mapCurtin Township on the 1960 USGS mapCurtin Township on the 1971 USGS mapCurtin Township on the 1995 USGS map1928Snow Shoe 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 Curtin 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.

Gingher House (Ruins), Legislative Route 14010 (Boggs Township)
Retake this viewGingher House (Ruins), Legislative Route 14010 (Boggs Township)

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Curtin Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Curtin Township, census by census

010020030040050060020002020Peak: 618

Between 500 and 618 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Curtin Township’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Curtin Township

Nobody well known was born in Curtin Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Jonathan FrakesAmerican actor and director · b. 1952
Jeff VanderMeerAmerican writer · b. 1968
Glenn ThompsonU.S. Representative from Pennsylvania · b. 1959
Andrew Gregg CurtinAmerican politician · b. 1815
George Grey BarnardAmerican sculptor · b. 1863
John Montgomery WardAmerican Major League Baseball pitcher, shortst… · b. 1860
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Beech Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLiberty Township1 historic placeA−Howard TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBoggs Township3 historic placesA−Snow Shoe TownshipIts storyC+Burnside TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Curtin Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (3), 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.