The story
Read it all →How Damascus Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Damascus Township.
The Damascus Post Office has been in operation since January 24, 1824.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
AHistory
History · Damascus Township
Damascus Township’s post office opened in 1824, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 90% of U.S. towns · #183 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 53 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1920 on.
1824first post office
3on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Damascus Township began
When was Damascus Township founded?
1824
The Damascus Township post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name. Nine smaller post offices, Galilee (1848), West Damacus (1869) and Boyds Mills (1880), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 3,674202 years
How historic is Damascus Township?
A
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 90% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Damascus Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Damascus Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Damascus Township is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #183 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Damascus Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1824, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194019.2% of homes (±6.2) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register3 listings, 54 historic buildings, 146 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 90%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 82%
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 Damascus Township’s 146 sits above most of its state (90% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 54 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.2 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 Damascus Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost villages9 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Damascus Township, and 16 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Damascus Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Damascus Historic District takes in 36 historic buildings.On the map since 19205 editions of the USGS map, 1920 to 1992. Watch Damascus Township change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Nine other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Damascus
Galilee
Milanville
West Damacus
Tyler Hill
Boyds Mills
Atco
Calkins
Kellam
Abrahamsville
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AbrahamsvilleAtcoBoyds MillsBranningvilleCalkinsConklin HillDamascusDarbytownFallsdaleGalileeHilltownMilanvilleRutledgedaleStanton CornerTyler HillWest Damascus
Gone or out of use
Burcher SchoolschoolCanfield SchoolschoolKesler SchoolschoolYoungsville Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Damascus Township
HillcrestHillsideOverlook
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Damascus Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Damascus Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the National Register
3 listings protect 54 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
54
each building in a district counts
first listed
1974
Hill's Sawmill
BuildingsDistricts
Architectural styles listings
Mid-19th Century2
Greek Revival2
Late Victorian2
Queen Anne Renaissance1
Queen Anne1
Eastlake1
Hill's SawmillBuilding
Damascus Historic DistrictMid-19th Century
Milanville Historic DistrictMid-19th Century
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Timeline
Damascus Township, 1824 to 1966
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the map
Damascus Township on the map, 1920 to 1992
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Damascus Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1920Damascus 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 Damascus Township.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Damascus Township
Nobody well known was born in Damascus Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Damascus Township’s history
What year was Damascus Township founded?
The Damascus Township post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Damascus Township rank for history?
Damascus Township is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #183 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.
What is on the National Register in Damascus Township?
Three places: the Hill's Sawmill (listed 1974), the Damascus Historic District (1992) and the Milanville Historic District (1993).
How old are the homes in Damascus Township?
19% of Damascus Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.