18% of Elizabeth Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 85% of U.S. towns · #253 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Stiegel-Coleman House, a National Historic Landmark. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 2000.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Elizabeth Township is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #253 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Elizabeth 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 Elizabeth Township’s 22.6 sits above most of its state (82% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 9 historic buildings outnumber those of 75% 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 (±7.3 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 Elizabeth 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
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Brickerville
1830–1939
Brubaker
1898–1913
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BrickervillePoplar GroveSpeedwell
Gone or out of use
Brickerville Post Officepost office
13cemeteries and burying grounds inside Elizabeth Township
Brickerville United Lutheran Church andBrubaker - BarBrubakerEbyHammer Creek Mennonite ChurchHammer Creek Old Order AmishLexington - KauffmanNew EvangelicalNew Haven MennoniteSaint Johns LutheranStaufferSteinmetzZion German Reformed Church
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Elizabeth Township on the map, 1902 to 1995
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Elizabeth Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1902Lancaster 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 Elizabeth Township.
Elizabeth Township was established in 1757 as a split off Warwick Township. It was split again in 1853 to create the present Clay Township to the east.
In early colonial days, the area now comprising Elizabeth Township played an important part in the development of the county. The village of Brickerville dates from 1741, when the area's first blast furnace was built to make cast iron from ore from the Cornwall mines. Stiegel glass manufacturing, dating from 1757, soon grew into an international export. Iron production grew, reaching its peak circa 1780 and continuing until 1856. The supplying of charcoal from area forests to feed the furnaces over this period became an important related industry.
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.
Elizabeth Township is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #253 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 Elizabeth Township?
Two places: the Stiegel-Coleman House (listed 1966) and the Speedwell Forge Mansion (2006).
How old are the homes in Elizabeth Township?
18% of Elizabeth Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 (18), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.
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★ Landmark