The East Earl Township post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name. Seven smaller post offices, Weaver's Mill (1856), Green Bank (1863) and Cedar Lane (1878), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 6,699136 years
How historic is East Earl Township?
B
More historic than 63% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first East Earl Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives East Earl Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, East Earl Township is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns, #567 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of East Earl 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 East Earl Township’s 5.9 sits above most of its state (69% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% 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 (±6.0 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 East Earl Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Seven other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Blue Ball
1833–today
Goodville
1849–today
Weaver's Mill
1856–1867
Green Bank
1863–1902
Cedar Lane
1878–1909
Weaverland
1889–1914
East Earl
1890–today
Sensenig
1892–1909
Fetterville
1894–1926
Union Grove
1910–1933
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Blue BallEast EarlFettervilleGoodvilleGreen BankUnion GroveWeaverland
Gone or out of use
Blue Ball Post Officepost officeBlue Ball QuarrymineGoodville Post Officepost officeGreen Bank Post Officepost officeWeaverland QuarrymineWeavers Mill Post Officepost office
15cemeteries and burying grounds inside East Earl Township
Bethany Grace FellowshipBlue Ball Church of the BrethrenBlue Ball MennoniteBridgeville Evangelical CongregationalCedar Grove Presbyterian ChurchDague FamilyGoodville MennoniteJohn Michael Ranck FamilyJohn Philip RanckLichtyOld WelshRancks United Methodist ChurchSaint Johns Evangelical Lutheran ChurchSpring Grove Mennonite ChurchWeaverland Mennonite
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start East Earl Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how East 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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of East Earl Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1906New Holland 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 East Earl Township.
The story so far
East Earl Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of East Earl Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
East Earl is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in East Earl Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 1,144.
Its first post office opened in 1890. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 6,507 to 6,699 (+3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
East Earl Township, 1833 to 1906
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The East Earl Township post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does East Earl Township rank for history?
East Earl Township is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns, #567 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 East Earl Township?
Three places: the Pool Forge Covered Bridge (listed 1980), the Spring Grove Forge Mansion (1984) and the Henry Weaver Farmstead (1978).
How old are the homes in East Earl Township?
19% of East Earl Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 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 the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
