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Elk Township field along Martin RoadPhoto: Nyttend · Public domain
B+History
History · Elk Township

Elk Township’s post office opened in 1836, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 68% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1967 on.

1836first post office
0on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Nyttend · Public domain
Quick answers

How Elk Township began

When was Elk Township founded?

1836

The Elk Township post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Elk (1836), Kahle's (1864) and Elk City (1876), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 1,434190 years

How historic is Elk Township?

B+

More historic than 68% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Elk Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Elk Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Elk Township is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Elk Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1836, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194028.1% of homes (±10.0) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%A−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical PA town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 68%
NewerOlder

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 Elk 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 B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.0 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 Elk Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Elk Township, and 5 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Elk Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1836: 190 years of Elk Township.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Elk
1836–1842
Kahle's
1864–1874
Elk City
1876–1915
Haynie
1887–1906
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BillingElk CityIron CityMillerstownPine City
Gone or out of use
Cohlhepp SchoolschoolLewis SchoolschoolWilson Milllocale
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Elk Township
Perry ChapelPleasant HillWedekind

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Elk Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elk Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Elk Township, 1836 to 1967

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1836Post officeThe Elk post office opens
  3. 1842Post officeThe Elk post office closes
  4. 1864Post officeThe Kahle's post office opens
  5. 1874Post officeThe Kahle's post office closes
  6. 1876Post officeThe Elk City post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1915Post officeThe Elk City post office closes
  9. 1967On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story so far

Elk Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Elk Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Elk Township is a township in Clarion County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,433 at the 2020 census, a decrease from the figure of 1,490 tabulated in 2010.

Its first post office opened in 1836. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,490 to 1,434 (-4%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Elk Township, decade by decade

Today2 recent
US 322 eb entering Shippenville, PA, June 20242024US 322 eb entering Shippenville, PA, June 2024Elk Township field along Martin Road2014Elk Township field along Martin Road
On the map

Elk Township on the map, 1967 to 1973

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Elk Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Elk Township on the 1967 USGS mapElk Township on the 1973 USGS map1967Fryburg sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Elk Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Beaver TownshipIts storyBPaint TownshipIts storyC−Pinegrove TownshipIts storyBAshland TownshipIts storyBKnox TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWashington TownshipIts storyB−

Questions about Elk Township’s history

What year was Elk Township founded?

The Elk Township post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Elk Township rank for history?

Elk Township is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns. 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 Elk Township?

28% of Elk Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1968.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 (2), 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.