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C+History
History · Decatur Township

19% of Decatur Township’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 44% of U.S. towns · #810 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it

Below: maps from 1903 on and the census since 1970.

0on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

About Decatur Township’s history

How historic is Decatur Township?

C+

More historic than 44% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Decatur Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Decatur Township is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #810 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 Decatur Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194018.9% of homes (±10.5) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%B+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical PA town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 44%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 22%

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 Decatur 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.

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 (±10.5 points).

Founding year: our sources. 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 Decatur Township’s past

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

Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Decatur Township, and 17 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Decatur Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19034 editions of the USGS map, 1903 to 1993. Watch Decatur Township change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Jeffries
1851–1906
Victor
1881–1910
Gearhartsville
1890–1903
Drane
1898–1906
Burly
1903–1907
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AshlandBeavertonBurlyDecaturvilleDraneGearhartvilleGrahamHudsonJeffriesNew CastleNew LibertyNewtownParsonsvillePleasant HillScotch HollowStumptownVictor
Gone or out of use
Cuba MinemineFrans AirportairportMorgan RunlocaleNew Castle Schoolschool
9cemeteries and burying grounds inside Decatur Township
BaughmanCentre United MethodistGossGossMokes HillNativity of the Virgin Mary OrthodoxSaint JohnsSaint JosephUmbria

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

Help out

Start Decatur Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Decatur Township on the map, 1903 to 1993

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

Decatur Township on the 1903 USGS mapDecatur Township on the 1945 USGS mapDecatur Township on the 1969 USGS mapDecatur Township on the 1993 USGS map1903Houtzdale 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 Decatur Township.

The story so far

Decatur Township, in brief

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

Decatur Township is a township in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,549 at the 2020 census, an increase over the figure tabulated in the 2010 census in which the population was 2,548. The township is named after war hero Stephen Decatur, Jr.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 4,548 in 2010, 4,558 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Decatur Township, 1851 to 1910

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1851Post officeThe Jeffries post office opens
  3. 1881Post officeThe Victor post office opens
  4. 1890Post officeThe Gearhartsville post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1903Post officeThe Gearhartsville post office closes
  7. 1903On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1906Post officeThe Jeffries post office closes
  9. 1910Post officeThe Victor post office closes
By decade

Decatur Township, decade by decade

Today9 recent
US 322 wb in Decatur Twp., PA, Aug. 20242024US 322 wb in Decatur Twp., PA, Aug. 2024PA 53 sb in Decatur Twp., Aug. 20242024PA 53 sb in Decatur Twp., Aug. 2024PA 53 sb entering Woodward Twp., Clearfield Co., Aug. 20242024PA 53 sb entering Woodward Twp., Clearfield Co., Aug.…PA 53 sb entering Osceola Mills, Aug. 20242024PA 53 sb entering Osceola Mills, Aug. 2024PA 53 sb approaching Lingle Street, Decatur Twp., PA, Aug. 20242024PA 53 sb approaching Lingle Street, Decatur Twp., PA,…Old Goss Cemetery, Decatur Twp., PA, Aug. 20242024Old Goss Cemetery, Decatur Twp., PA, Aug. 2024Fairview Park, Decatur Twp., Clearfield Co., PA, Aug. 20242024Fairview Park, Decatur Twp., Clearfield Co., PA, Aug.…Decatur Twp., Clearfield Co., PA municipal building, Aug. 20242024Decatur Twp., Clearfield Co., PA municipal building, …US Route 322 - Pennsylvania2000US Route 322 - Pennsylvania
People over time

Decatur Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,000198020002020Peak: 4,549

Between 2,763 and 4,549 people in every census since 1970.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Rush Township5 historic placesA+Woodward TownshipIts storyBChester HillIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOsceola MillsIts storyBBoggs TownshipIts storyB−Morris TownshipIts storyB−West DecaturIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPhilipsburg2 historic placesA

Questions about Decatur Township’s history

How does Decatur Township rank for history?

Decatur Township is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #810 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 Decatur Township?

19% of Decatur Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.5 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.

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 (9), 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.