The story
Read it all →How Earl Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Earl Township.
The David Davis Farm was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A−History
History · Earl Township
Earl Township’s post office opened in 1816, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns · #316 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 7 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1906 on, and the census since 2000.
1816first post office
1on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Quick answers
How Earl Township began
When was Earl Township founded?
1816
The Earl Township post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Earl (1816), Hinkletown (1826) and Voganville (1851), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 6,183 in 20002020 census: 7,144210 years
How historic is Earl Township?
A−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Earl Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Earl Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Earl Township is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #316 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Earl Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1816, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194013.2% of homes (±5.1) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register1 listing, 7 historic buildings, 9.8 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 80%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 70%
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 Earl Township’s 9.8 sits above most of its state (77% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.1 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 Earl 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 Earl Township, and 5 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19066 editions of the USGS map, 1906 to 1992. Watch Earl Township change.Old burying grounds23 cemeteries and burying grounds inside Earl Township.
★ 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.
Earl
Hinkletown
Voganville
Martindale
Groffdale
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
GroffdaleHinkletownLaurel HillMartindaleVogansville
Gone or out of use
Burkholder QuarrymineHinkletown Post Officepost officeVogansville Post Officepost office
23cemeteries and burying grounds inside Earl Township
BairBethany Evangelical CongregationalCenterville Mennonite ChurchChristian FellowshipEllmaker - KurtzEllmakerGarden Spot Village Memorial GardensHinkletown Mennonite ChurchMartindale MennoniteMartindale MennoniteNew Covenant MennoniteNew Holland Old Order MennonitePike MennoniteRed Well MennoniteReidenbach MennoniteSensenigSouth Hinkletown MennoniteSpring Isaac Martin FamilyStoltzfusSummitview Christian FellowshipVoganville UnionWest Haven Amish MennoniteZeltenreich
See all 23
Bair Cemetery · Bethany Evangelical Congregational Cemetery · Centerville Mennonite Church Cemetery · Christian Fellowship Cemetery · Ellmaker - Kurtz Graveyard · Ellmaker Graveyard · Garden Spot Village Memorial Gardens · Hinkletown Mennonite Church Cemetery · Martindale Mennonite Cemetery · Martindale Mennonite Cemetery · New Covenant Mennonite Cemetery · New Holland Old Order Mennonite Cemetery · Pike Mennonite Cemetery · Red Well Mennonite Cemetery · Reidenbach Mennonite Cemetery · Sensenig Cemetery · South Hinkletown Mennonite Cemetery · Spring Isaac Martin Family Cemetery · Stoltzfus Cemetery · Summitview Christian Fellowship Cemetery · Voganville Union Cemetery · West Haven Amish Mennonite Cemetery · Zeltenreich Cemetery
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Earl Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Earl 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 map
Earl Township on the map, 1906 to 1992
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Earl Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1906New Holland 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 Earl Township.
Timeline
Earl Township, 1814 to 1934
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1814Born hereAnna Weber is born here
- 1816Post officeThe Earl post office opens
- 1826Post officeThe Hinkletown post office opens
- 1849Post officeThe Earl post office closes
- 1851Post officeThe Voganville post office opens
- 1880
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Lancaster County - Earl - ED 36-22… - 20th century
- 1906
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1914Post officeThe Hinkletown post office closes
- 1934Post officeThe Voganville post office closes
By decade
Earl Township, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1890s–1990snothing 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
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012Then & 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.
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Lancaster County - Earl - ED 36-22, ED 36-23, 1880
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Earl Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
1 listing protects 7 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
7
each building in a district counts
first listed
1994
David Davis Farm
Districts
Architectural styles listings
Pennsylvania German Vernacular1
Pennsylvania Barn1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Earl Township, census by census
Between 6,183 and 7,144 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Earl Township’s Wikipedia page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Ephrata Township4 historic placesA−Leacock TownshipIts storyB−East Earl Township3 historic placesBHinkletownIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townUpper Leacock Township1 historic placeA−Brecknock Township3 historic placesB+West Earl Township2 historic placesB−Blue BallIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEast Cocalico Township2 historic placesA−
Questions about Earl Township’s history
What year was Earl Township founded?
The Earl Township post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Earl Township rank for history?
Earl Township is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #316 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 Earl Township?
One place: the David Davis Farm (listed 1994).
How old are the homes in Earl Township?
13% of Earl Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 Wikimedia Commons (7), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.