Derry Township dates to 1717, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns · #361 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Most of Derry Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1940.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1852.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Derry Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Derry Township is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #361 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Derry Township’s overall grade.
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 Derry Township’s 2.0 sits near the middle of its state (57% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1717.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share (±1.4 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Derry Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Derry One-Room SchoolschoolEcko Field AirportairportHershey Air ParkairportHistorical Churchchurch
12cemeteries and burying grounds inside Derry Township
BroadviewDerry Presbyterian ChurchFishburn United Methodist ChurchGingrich Family PlotHersheyHershey Reformed MennoniteLandisSaint PaulSpring CreekSpring Creek Meeting HouseStauffers Mennonite ChurchStoverdale United Methodist Church
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Derry Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Derry Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Derry Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1892Hummelstown 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 Derry Township.
The earliest recorded information about the Derry Township area dates back to 1608, when Captain John Smith explored the region. Leaving Jamestown to search for much-needed food, Smith's journey through the Chesapeake Bay region covered an estimated 3,000 miles.
The Township of Derry was incorporated on August 1, 1729, by John, Thomas, and Richard Penn, the sons of William Penn and Proprietors of Pennsylvania. They established Derry Township, along with other townships, to partition Lancaster County's territory for tax purposes. Lancaster County itself had been created earlier that same year.
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.
In 1717, according to Wikidata. Derry Township’s post office opened in 1852, and the census of 1940 counted 8,653 people here.
How does Derry Township rank for history?
Derry Township is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #361 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 Derry Township?
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Milton S. Hershey Mansion (a National Historic Landmark since 1983), and 1 site. 5 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Derry Township?
8% of Derry Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 (5), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
2026
2025
2011
2011
★ Landmark
