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History · Freedom Township

23% of Freedom Township’s homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Bridge in Cumberland Township. Below: 16 old photos and papers, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 2000.

1on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
16old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Freedom Township’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Freedom Township’s past

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

A town in old photos16 old photos, postcards and papers, 1850–1941.On the map since 19096 editions of the USGS map, 1909 to 1990. Watch Freedom Township change.
★ What stands out · By decade

Freedom Township, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s1 item
1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Adams County - ED 1-14, ED 1-15, ED 1-16, ED 1-17, ED 1-…18501940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Penns…
1910s–1920s13 items
Pennsylvania - Elizabethtown through Gates1917Pennsylvania - Elizabethtown through GatesFreedom Oil Works1920Freedom Oil WorksFreedom Oil Works1920Freedom Oil WorksFreedom Oil Works1920Freedom Oil WorksFreedom Oil Works1920Freedom Oil WorksFreedom Oil Works1920Freedom Oil WorksFreedom Oil Works1920Freedom Oil WorksFreedom Gas Distillery. Men working1920Freedom Gas Distillery. Men workingFreedom Gas Distillery. Machinery IV1920Freedom Gas Distillery. Machinery IVFreedom Gas Distillery. Machinery V1920Freedom Gas Distillery. Machinery VFreedom Gas Distillery. Machinery II1920Freedom Gas Distillery. Machinery IIFreedom Gas Distillery. Machinery III1920Freedom Gas Distillery. Machinery IIIFreedom Gas Distillery. Machinery I1920Freedom Gas Distillery. Machinery I
1940s2 items
Little boy1940Little boyFreedom oil refinery. Freedom, Pennsylvania1941Freedom oil refinery. Freedom, Pennsylvania
1950s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today2 recent
US 15 (MD) nb at Pennsylvania state line, July 20252025US 15 (MD) nb at Pennsylvania state line, July 20252016-09-19 17 48 41 "Pennsylvania Welcomes You" sign along northbound U.S. Route 15 (Marine Corps League Memorial Highw…20162016-09-19 17 48 41 "Pennsylvania Welcomes You" sign …
On the map

Freedom Township on the map, 1909 to 1990

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

Freedom Township on the 1909 USGS mapFreedom Township on the 1944 USGS mapFreedom Township on the 1951 USGS mapFreedom Township on the 1968 USGS mapFreedom Township on the 1973 USGS mapFreedom Township on the 1990 USGS map1909Fairfield 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 Freedom Township.

The story so far

Freedom Township, in brief

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

Freedom Township is a township in Adams County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 822 at the 2020 census. A portion of Eisenhower National Historic Site extends into Freedom Township.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 831 in 2010, 825 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Freedom Township, 1850 to 1940

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Adams County - ED 1-14, ED…
  3. 1888Post officeThe Fairplay post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1903Post officeThe Fairplay post office closes
  6. 1909On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1917In the archivePennsylvania - Elizabethtown through Gates
  8. 1920In the archiveFreedom Oil Works
  9. 1940In the archiveLittle boy
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Adams County - ED 1-14, ED 1-15, ED 1-16, ED 1-17, ED 1-…
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Adams County - ED 1-14, ED 1-15, ED 1-16, ED 1-17, ED 1-…, 1850

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Freedom Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Freedom Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1988
Bridge in Cumberland Township
Bridge in Cumberland Township
Structures
Bridge in Cumberland TownshipStructure

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Freedom Township, census by census

020040060080020002020Peak: 844

Between 822 and 844 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Freedom Township

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

See all →
Wallis SimpsonAmerican socialite and wife of the Duke of Wind… · b. 1896
Jeremiah MorrowAmerican politician · b. 1771
B
Brian Patrick ClarkeAmerican actor · b. 1952
Eddie PlankAmerican baseball player · b. 1875
John CovodeAmerican politician · b. 1808
Joseph A. GouldenAmerican politician · b. 1844
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Another post office, Fairplay, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Fairplay
Gone or out of use
McCleary Schoolschool

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

Help out

Finish Freedom Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Descri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Cumberland Township5 historic placesB+Liberty TownshipIts storyC+Highland Township1 historic placeA−

Questions about Freedom Township’s history

What is on the National Register in Freedom Township?

One place: the Bridge in Cumberland Township (listed 1988).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (14), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.