Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 16% of U.S. towns · #1,020 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Most of Forks Township was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2000. Below: maps from 1890 on and the census since 1990.
More historic than 16% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Forks Township is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #1,020 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Forks 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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Forks Township’s history is told.
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Forks Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Forks Township.
From Wikipedia’s history of Forks Township.
Prior to the Walking Purchase in 1737, the Lenape, a Native American tribe, inhabited the area and many Lenape artifacts were found in the area. Forks Township was founded in 1754 north of Easton, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a farming based community in-between the Bushkill Creek and Delaware River.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Forks Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Forks Township — Forks township is one of the original townships of Northampton county, and was incorporated in 1754. Formerly it extended westward to the townships of Bethlehem and Lower and Upper Nazareth, and southward to the Lehigh river. The present boundaries are : on the north, by Plainfield township; on the northeast and east by Lower Mount Bethel and the Delaware river; on the south, by Easton; and on the west, by Palmer township. The township is well watered and supplied with power by the Bushkill creek and the smaller streams flowing into it.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereWilliam Findlay Rogers is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
2025Forks Township, Northampton County, PA police departm…
2025Faith Lutheran Church, Forks Township, Northampton Co…
2025Braden Airpark, Forks Township, Northampton County, P…
2024Greater easton color coded
2020Forks Township, Northampton County, PA, USA
2014Northampton county - Forks Township
2012Delaware River view through trees at Forks Township PA
2012Delaware River view from Forks PA looking north
2012Delaware River looking east at NJ from Forks Township…
2009Municipal Building in Forks Township Northampton Coun…Grew from 5,969 people in 1990 to 16,077 in 2020.
4 censuses, 1990–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Forks Township’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Forks Township is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #1,020 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.
4% of Forks Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 2000.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (10), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
