The East Penn Township post office opened in 1829, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, East Penn (1829), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 2,748197 years
How historic is East Penn Township?
B
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first East Penn Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives East Penn Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, East Penn Township is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #595 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of East Penn 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 Penn 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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.6 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 Penn 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
Another post office, East Penn, opened and closed inside today’s town.
East Penn
1829–1888
Ashfield
1889–today
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AshfieldBallietGermansKittatinnyLizard Creek JunctionWest Bowmans
Gone or out of use
Kittatinny Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside East Penn Township
Ben SalemDinkey MemorialNew Dinkey Memorial
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
East Penn Township on the map, 1922 to 1992
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of East Penn Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1922Lehighton 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 Penn Township.
The story so far
East Penn Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of East Penn Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
East Penn Township is a rural township in the rough uplands terrain of the eastern Mahoning Hills area of Carbon County, Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The township has a complementary or sister township, West Penn Township, directly to the west in Schuylkill County. The township sits between two ridgelines of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, but with multiple hilltops, its terrain is unlike many nearby valley floors between similar ridgelines. The population was 2,881 at the 2010 United States census, up from 2,461 at the 2000 census.
Its first post office opened in 1829. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,881 to 2,748 (-5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
East Penn Township, 1829 to 1922
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The East Penn Township post office opened in 1829, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does East Penn Township rank for history?
East Penn Township is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #595 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 East Penn Township?
20% of East Penn Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.6 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1989.
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 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.
