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CHistory
History · Dallas Township

Dallas Township dates to 1797, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 29% of U.S. towns · #951 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it

Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1880.

1797founded
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
11old photos & papers
From Dallas Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Dallas Township began

When was Dallas Township founded?

1797

Dallas Township dates its founding to 1797 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 272 in 18802020 census: 9,099229 years

How historic is Dallas Township?

C

More historic than 29% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1855.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Dallas Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dallas Township is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #951 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Dallas Township’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 29%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 8%

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 Dallas 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.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1797.
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 (±3.9 points).

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Dallas Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

★ 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.

Kunckle
1855–1904
Ketcham
1862–1906
Alderson
1887–1949
Demunds Corners
1893–1902
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Back MountainDemunds CornersFern BrookHarveys LakeHays CornerKetchamKunkleMaplewood Heights
Gone or out of use
Outlet Stationlocale
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Dallas Township
Anshe SfardChapel LawnFern KnollSaint JohnsSaint Mary's Byzantine CatholicShaverWardan

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

On the map

Dallas Township on the map, 1893 to 1983

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

Dallas Township on the 1893 USGS mapDallas Township on the 1946 USGS mapDallas Township on the 1969 USGS mapDallas Township on the 1976 USGS mapDallas Township on the 1983 USGS map1893Pittston 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 Dallas Township.

Timeline

Dallas Township, 1797 to 1949

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1797
    FoundingDallas Township is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1855Post officeThe Kunckle post office opens
  5. 1862Post officeThe Ketcham post office opens
  6. 1887Post officeThe Alderson post office opens
  7. 1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 20th century
  9. 1904Post officeThe Kunckle post office closes
  10. 1906In the archiveThe pines
  11. 1906Post officeThe Ketcham post office closes
  12. 1930In the archiveClub house, Irem Temple Country Club, Pennsylvania (75656)
  13. 1949Post officeThe Alderson post office closes
The story

How Dallas Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Dallas Township.

Read it all →

Dallas was first settled in 1797. It was later incorporated as a borough on April 21, 1879, from land entirely within Dallas Township. The township had been formed in 1817 and was named for Alexander J. Dallas, who was the 6th United States Secretary of the Treasury and the father of George M. Dallas, the vice president of James Polk.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Dallas Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

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.

The pines
Retake this viewThe pines, 1906

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Dallas Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,804

Between 272 and 2,804 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Help out

Finish Dallas Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Questions about Dallas Township’s history

What year was Dallas Township founded?

In 1797, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Dallas Township’s post office opened in 1855, and the census of 1880 counted 272 people here.

How does Dallas Township rank for history?

Dallas Township is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #951 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 Dallas Township?

11% of Dallas Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1977.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (14), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, 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.