The story
Read it all →How Georges Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Georges Township.
The Shoaf Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A+History
History · Georges Township
30% of Georges Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns · #107 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 39 buildings. Below: maps from 1900 on.
1on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
About Georges Township’s history
How historic is Georges Township?
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What drives the grade ↓More historic than 96% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Georges Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Georges Township is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #107 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Georges Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194029.8% of homes (±5.8) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register1 listing, 39 historic buildings, 62.8 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 96%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 90%
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 Georges Township’s 62.8 sits above most of its state (87% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 39 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.8 points).
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 →
What stands out about Georges Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost villages6 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Georges Township, and 15 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Georges 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 1973. Watch Georges Township change.A historic districtThe Shoaf Historic District takes in 39 historic buildings.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Six other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Oliphant Furnace
Haydentown
Ruble
Chadville
Newcomer
York Run
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AmendChadvilleCollierEast FairchanceGilmoreHaydentownHaysNewcomerOliphant FurnaceRuble MillShoafSmileyWoodbridgetownYork RunYork Run Junction
Gone or out of use
Crozier Run Branch Junction StationbuildingDearmond SchoolschoolLynndale SchoolschoolMiller AirportairportStrum StationbuildingSulfur Springs SchoolschoolYork Run Junction Stationbuilding
15cemeteries and burying grounds inside Georges Township
Conn FamilyFairchanceGates ShacklettGrove ChurchHaydentown Christian ChurchJones FamilyLittle White RockMaple GroveMiller SislerRhodes SwaneySaint Joseph's Roman CatholicSessler FarmTent PresbyterianWalnut Hill United Methodist ChurchWoodbridge Union
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Georges Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Georges Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Georges Township on the map, 1900 to 1973
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Georges Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1900Masontown sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Georges Township.
Timeline
Georges Township, 1878 to 1978
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1878Post officeThe Oliphant Furnace post office opens
- 1884Post officeThe Haydentown post office opens
- 1886Post officeThe Ruble post office opens
- 20th century
- 1900
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1903Post officeThe Haydentown post office closes
- 1903Post officeThe Ruble post office closes
- 1978Post officeThe Oliphant Furnace post office closes
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the National Register
1 listing protects 39 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
39
each building in a district counts
first listed
1994
Shoaf Historic District
Districts
Architectural styles listings
Utilitarian Industrial Buildings1
Vernacular Worker Housing1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Georges Township
Nobody well known was born in Georges Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
G
George MarshallAmerican army officer and statesman · b. 1880
J
John Dickson CarrAmerican writer · b. 1906
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Georges Township’s history
How does Georges Township rank for history?
Georges Township is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #107 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.
What is on the National Register in Georges Township?
One place: the Shoaf Historic District (listed 1994).
How old are the homes in Georges Township?
30% of Georges Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1957.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.