Founding year: the first Elverson post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Elverson’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Elverson is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Elverson’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 Elverson’s 912 sits above most of its state (97% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 133 historic buildings outnumber those of 91% 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 (±8.1 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 Elverson’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Elverson's earliest European settlers arrived in the late 18th century when the area was known as Springfield. Later dubbed Blue Rock after a deposit of peculiar rocks not far from the town, it remained largely rural until the arrival of the Wilmington and Northern Railroad in 1870. By 1883, the town's population had more than doubled.
In 1899, the settlement was named Elverson after James Elverson, owner of The Philadelphia Inquirer, who later donated a stained glass window to a church in Elverson. The Borough of Elverson was officially incorporated on April 17, 1911, from land annexed from West Nantmeal Township, and it remained the commercial center of northwestern Chester County through the first half of the 20th century.
The Elverson post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Elverson rank for history?
Elverson is more historic than 80% 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.
What is on the National Register in Elverson?
One place: the Elverson Historic District (listed 1993).
How old are the homes in Elverson?
23% of Elverson’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.1 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1996.
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 (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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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