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History · Darby Township

Darby Township dates to 1682

Most of Darby Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1958. Below: 19 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1860.

1682founded
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
19old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Darby Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Darby Township began

When was Darby Township founded?

1682

Darby Township dates its founding to 1682 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1860.

First census: 780 in 18602020 census: 9,219344 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1890.The full story ↓

What stands out about Darby Township’s past

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

Older than the countryEstablished in 1682, 94 years before the Declaration of Independence.On the map since 18946 editions of the USGS map, 1894 to 1994. Watch Darby Township change.A town in old photos19 old photos, postcards and papers, 1880–1999.Old housesHalf of Darby Township’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Timeline

Darby Township, 1682 to 1999

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

  1. 17th century
  2. 1682
    FoundingDarby Township is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Delaware County - Darby - ED 23-61…
  5. 1890Post officeThe Llanwellyn post office opens
  6. 1894On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1899In the archiveMAINIERIAI PRIE DARBO
  8. 20th century
  9. 1911Post officeThe Llanwellyn post office closes
  10. 1919In the archiveSanborn Fire Insurance Map from Delaware Co., Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Volume 1, 19…
  11. 1999In the archiveFEMA - 181 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-1999 in Pennsylvania
On the map

Darby Township on the map, 1894 to 1994

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

Darby Township on the 1894 USGS mapDarby Township on the 1942 USGS mapDarby Township on the 1956 USGS mapDarby Township on the 1967 USGS mapDarby Township on the 1973 USGS mapDarby Township on the 1994 USGS map1894Chester 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 Darby Township.

By decade

Darby Township, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1890s6 items
1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Delaware County - Darby - ED 23-61 - ED 23-6918801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania …1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Delaware County - Darby - ED 23-61 - ED 23-6918801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania …1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Delaware County - Darby - ED 23-61 - ED 23-6918801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania …1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Delaware County - Darby - ED 23-61 - ED 23-6918801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania …MAINIERIAI PRIE DARBO1899MAINIERIAI PRIE DARBOMAINIERIAI PO DARBUI1899MAINIERIAI PO DARBUI
1910s1 item
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Delaware Co., Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Volume 1, 1919, Plate 01051919Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Delaware Co., Delawar…Map
1920s–1980snothing 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
1990s10 items
FEMA - 181 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-1999 in Pennsylvania1999FEMA - 181 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-…FEMA - 182 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-1999 in Pennsylvania1999FEMA - 182 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-…FEMA - 184 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-1999 in Pennsylvania1999FEMA - 184 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-…FEMA - 185 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-1999 in Pennsylvania1999FEMA - 185 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-…FEMA - 186 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-1999 in Pennsylvania1999FEMA - 186 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-…FEMA - 187 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-1999 in Pennsylvania1999FEMA - 187 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-…FEMA - 188 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-1999 in Pennsylvania1999FEMA - 188 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-…FEMA - 386 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-1999 in Pennsylvania1999FEMA - 386 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-…FEMA - 446 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-26-1999 in Pennsylvania1999FEMA - 446 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-…Pennsylvaniafloydeffects1999Pennsylvaniafloydeffects
Date unknown2 to date
Upper Swedish Log CabinDate?Upper Swedish Log CabinDarby Friends Meeting House, 1017 Main StreetDate?Darby Friends Meeting House, 1017 Main Street
Today11 recent
Darby Borough, PA post office, Nov. 20252025Darby Borough, PA post office, Nov. 2025Darby Borough, PA Municipal Complex (2), Nov. 20252025Darby Borough, PA Municipal Complex (2), Nov. 2025Darby Borough, PA Municipal Complex (1), Nov. 20252025Darby Borough, PA Municipal Complex (1), Nov. 2025Martha Schofield2023Martha SchofieldUntitled photo2021Untitled photoP20210316CS-1271 (51130055779) (cropped)2021P20210316CS-1271 (51130055779) (cropped)Walnut St Elementary2015Walnut St ElementaryHouse in2015House inDarby Creek at Pine St2015Darby Creek at Pine St1000 main street in20141000 main street inDarby, Delaware County, Pennsylvania2007Darby, Delaware County, Pennsylvania
The story

How Darby Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Darby Township.

Read it all →

Darby was settled in 1682 by seven Quaker families led by abolitionist and fair trade advocate John Blunston. The name Darby is derived from the English city of Derby (pronounced "Darby"), the county town of Derbyshire (pronounced "Darbyshire"), the origin of many early settlers. Incorporated on May 3, 1853, it had 3,429 residents in 1900, 6,305 in 1910, 10,334 in 1940, and 10,687 at the 2010 census.

Chapters17th century18th century19th century20th century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Darby Township in 1884

Passages that mention Darby Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.

which previous to 1747 had passed into the ownership of George Gray. On Sept. 3, 1701, a complaint was laid before the Provincial Council "by some of the Inhabitants of Darby Township against some parts of a road laid out by the Govr's order, from B. Chamber's fferry, through Darby Township to Edgm…
History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania1884 · page 507Read the page →
Read the text

which previous to 1747 had passed into the ownership of George Gray. On Sept. 3, 1701, a complaint was laid before the Provincial Council "by some of the Inhabitants of Darby Township against some parts of a road laid out by the Govr's order, from B. Chamber's fferry, through Darby Township to Edgmont.

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.

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.

1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Delaware County - Darby - ED 23-61 - ED 23-69
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Delaware County - Darby - ED 23-61 - ED 23-69, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Darby Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,000190019502000Peak: 14,059

Between 780 and 14,059 people in every census since 1860.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Another post office, Llanwellyn, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Llanwellyn
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Darby Township
Mount JacobMount LawnMount Lebanon

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

Help out

Finish Darby 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.
Date a photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Philadelphia615 historic placesA+Sharon HillIts storyB−FolcroftIts storyBRidley TownshipIts storyCCollingdale1 historic placeA−GlenoldenIts storyC+ColwynIts storyA−Upper Darby Township3 historic placesA

Questions about Darby Township’s history

What year was Darby Township founded?

In 1682, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Darby Township’s post office opened in 1890, and the census of 1860 counted 780 people here.

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 Wikimedia Commons (28), the Library of Congress (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.