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B+History
History · Elk Creek Township

Elk Creek Township’s post office opened in 1826, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

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

Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 2000.

1826first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Elk Creek Township began

When was Elk Creek Township founded?

1826

The Elk Creek Township post office opened in 1826, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Elk Creek (1826), Lundys Lane (1852) and Lavery (1886), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 1,800 in 20002020 census: 1,786200 years

How historic is Elk Creek 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 Creek Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Elk Creek Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Elk Creek 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 Creek Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1826, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194027.2% of homes (±7.1) · 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 Creek 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 (±7.1 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 Elk Creek 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 Creek Township, and 5 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Elk Creek Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19004 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1990. Watch Elk Creek Township change.Deep rootsA post office since 1826: 200 years of Elk Creek 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 Creek
1826–1895
Lundys Lane
1852–1971
Lavery
1886–1929
Pont
1889–1904
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
LaveryLundys LanePagevillePapervillePont
Gone or out of use
Lundys Lane Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Elk Creek Township
HopeSaint Nicholas Greek OrthodoxSherrod Hill

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

Help out

Start Elk Creek Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elk Creek 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
On the map

Elk Creek Township on the map, 1900 to 1990

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

Elk Creek Township on the 1900 USGS mapElk Creek Township on the 1959 USGS mapElk Creek Township on the 1969 USGS mapElk Creek Township on the 1990 USGS map1900Girard 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 Elk Creek Township.

The story so far

Elk Creek Township, in brief

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

Elk Creek Township is a township in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,786 at the 2020 census, down from 1,798 at the 2010 census.

Its first post office opened in 1826. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,798 in 2010, 1,786 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Elk Creek Township, 1826 to 1971

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1826Post officeThe Elk Creek post office opens
  3. 1852Post officeThe Lundys Lane post office opens
  4. 1886Post officeThe Lavery post office opens
  5. 1895Post officeThe Elk Creek post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1929Post officeThe Lavery post office closes
  9. 1971Post officeThe Lundys Lane post office closes
By decade

Elk Creek Township, decade by decade

Today7 recent
Wellsburg Park, Elk Creek Twp., PA, June 20242024Wellsburg Park, Elk Creek Twp., PA, June 2024PA 18 nb in Lundys Lane, June 20242024PA 18 nb in Lundys Lane, June 2024PA 18 nb entering Platea, June 20242024PA 18 nb entering Platea, June 2024Little Church on the Hill, Elk Creek Twp., PA, June 20242024Little Church on the Hill, Elk Creek Twp., PA, June 2…Elk Creek Township, PA municipal building, June 20242024Elk Creek Township, PA municipal building, June 2024Pennsylvania State Route 182000Pennsylvania State Route 18Pennsylvania State Route 182000Pennsylvania State Route 18
People over time

Elk Creek Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,00020002020Peak: 1,800

Between 1,786 and 1,800 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Elk Creek Township’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Elk Creek Township

Nobody well known was born in Elk Creek Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Douglas TompkinsAmerican environmentalist · b. 1943
L
Laura BoultonAmerican ethnomusicologist · b. 1899
Andrew Ryan McGillAmerican politician · b. 1840
Jonas WendellAmerican Christian evangelist · b. 1815
John T. RichAmerican politician · b. 1841
Stephen BollesAmerican politician · b. 1866
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Conneaut Township1 historic placeAFranklin TownshipIts storyC+CranesvilleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWashington TownshipIts storyCGirard Township1 historic placeB+PlateaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCussewago TownshipIts storyB−

Questions about Elk Creek Township’s history

What year was Elk Creek Township founded?

The Elk Creek Township post office opened in 1826, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Elk Creek Township rank for history?

Elk Creek 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 Creek Township?

27% of Elk Creek Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1974.

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 (7), 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.