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B−History
History · Greenwood Township

20% of Greenwood Township’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 46% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1907 on and old-book passages.

0on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Nyttend · Public domain
Quick answers

Where Greenwood Township’s name came from

How did Greenwood Township get its name?

Greenwood Township was named for Joseph Greenwood, an early settler.

How historic is Greenwood Township?

B−

More historic than 46% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Greenwood Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Greenwood Township is more historic than 46% 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 Greenwood Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraThe records don’t settle when Greenwood Township was founded, so age is left out of this grade–Homes built before 194020.1% of homes (±5.0) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%B+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 46%
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 Greenwood 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 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 (±5.0 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 Greenwood Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Greenwood Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Greenwood Township, and 4 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19075 editions of the USGS map, 1907 to 1977. Watch Greenwood Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Greenwood Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Greenwood 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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Nekoda
1871–1915
Reward
1883–1905
Wardville
1889–1905
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
NekodaOld FerryRewardWardville
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Greenwood Township
AukerMarshal ChapelMillerstown RiverviewMitchell

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

On the map

Greenwood Township on the map, 1907 to 1977

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

Greenwood Township on the 1907 USGS mapGreenwood Township on the 1943 USGS mapGreenwood Township on the 1959 USGS mapGreenwood Township on the 1969 USGS mapGreenwood Township on the 1977 USGS map1907Millerstown 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 Greenwood Township.

The story

How Greenwood Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Greenwood Township.

Read it all →

Greenwood Township was formed from old Fermanagh Township, Cumberland County on March 25, 1767, the fourth of the original townships formed within what would be separated as Perry County. It was named for Joseph Greenwood, an early settler. After many partitions, Fermanaugh Township is in Juniata County. After many partitions, Greenwood Township has been reduced to its current boundaries.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Greenwood Township in 1922

Passages that mention Greenwood Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.

devised by the will of Samuel Martin, dated August 23, 1769, to his son Joseph, being designated as "all the plantation which I bought from Robert Brightwell, with mills thereon, and all and every of the locations in Greenwood Township, etc." Samuel Martin also owned the property on the south side …
History of Perry County, Pennsylvania, including descriptions of Indians and pioneer life from the time of earliest settlement1922 · page 251Read the page →
Read the text

devised by the will of Samuel Martin, dated August 23, 1769, to his son Joseph, being designated as "all the plantation which I bought from Robert Brightwell, with mills thereon, and all and every of the locations in Greenwood Township, etc." Samuel Martin also owned the property on the south side of the Juniata, on which many years later was located the old Caroline furnace, near Bailey Station. Historical records relate to all the properties, and for that reason are included in one description, under this

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
While Greenwood Township was formed in 1767, and is generally supposed to have comprised all that part of Perry County lying east of the Juniata, yet such is not the case, as will be seen by referring to the chapter devoted to Greenwood Township, where the matter is fully described.
History Of Perry County, Pennsylvania1922 · page 1008Read the page →
Read the text

While Greenwood Township was formed in 1767, and is generally supposed to have comprised all that part of Perry County lying east of the Juniata, yet such is not the case, as will be seen by referring to the chapter devoted to Greenwood Township, where the matter is fully described.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
While Greenwood Township was formed in 1767, and is generally supposed to have comprised all that part of Perry County lying east of the Juniata, yet such is not the case, as will be seen by referring to the chapter devoted to Greenwood Township, where the matter is fully described.
History of Perry County, Pennsylvania, including descriptions of Indians and pioneer life from the time of earliest settlement1922 · page 1010Read the page →
Read the text

While Greenwood Township was formed in 1767, and is generally supposed to have comprised all that part of Perry County lying east of the Juniata, yet such is not the case, as will be seen by referring to the chapter devoted to Greenwood Township, where the matter is fully described.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
the same township. The first was in 1837, when that part of Buffalo which later became Howe was attached to Oliver and so remained for twenty-four years, when it became Howe Township. ‘The other was when a petition was presented to the Court January 4, 1854, asking that the lines of Greenwood Towns…
History Of Perry County, Pennsylvania1922 · page 913Read the page →
Read the text

the same township. The first was in 1837, when that part of Buffalo which later became Howe was attached to Oliver and so remained for twenty-four years, when it became Howe Township. ‘The other was when a petition was presented to the Court January 4, 1854, asking that the lines of Greenwood Township be altered, to include a portion of Juniata Township lying west of and along the Juniata River, in the Raccoon Valley. The petition was granted and it was a part of Greenwood Township until Tuscarora became a township, in 1859, when it became a part of Tuscarora.

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.

Timeline

Greenwood Township, 1871 to 1915

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe Nekoda post office opens
  3. 1883Post officeThe Reward post office opens
  4. 1889Post officeThe Wardville post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1905Post officeThe Reward post office closes
  7. 1905Post officeThe Wardville post office closes
  8. 1907On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1915Post officeThe Nekoda post office closes
By decade

Greenwood Township, decade by decade

Today10 recent
Reward, PA United Methodist Church, July 20252025Reward, PA United Methodist Church, July 2025Perry Valley Road wb, Reward, PA, July 20252025Perry Valley Road wb, Reward, PA, July 2025PA 17 eb entering Greenwood Township, July 20252025PA 17 eb entering Greenwood Township, July 2025Millerstown, PA Area Community Park, July 20252025Millerstown, PA Area Community Park, July 2025Juniata Parkway West nb entering Millerstown, PA (2), July 20252025Juniata Parkway West nb entering Millerstown, PA (2),…Juniata Parkway West nb entering Millerstown, PA (1), July 20252025Juniata Parkway West nb entering Millerstown, PA (1),…Greenwood Township, Perry County, PA municipal building, July 20252025Greenwood Township, Perry County, PA municipal buildi…Farm north of Millerstown on PA 17, July 20252025Farm north of Millerstown on PA 17, July 2025Juniata River upstream from US 22 wb past Millerstown, May 20242024Juniata River upstream from US 22 wb past Millerstown…Buffalo Mountain in southwestern Greenwood Township2015Buffalo Mountain in southwestern Greenwood Township
Famous people

Famous people close to Greenwood Township

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

See all →
James Addams BeaverAmerican politician · b. 1837
T
Thomas MarkleAmerican lighting director and father of Meghan… · b. 1944
J. Hale SypherAmerican politician · b. 1837
J
James BlackAmerican politician · b. 1793
M
Martha AlterAmerican composer · b. 1904
M
Marvin WolfgangAmerican criminologist · b. 1924
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Howe TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDelaware TownshipIts storyB−MillerstownIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLiverpool Township1 historic placeA−Oliver Township2 historic placesA−Buffalo TownshipIts storyC+Tuscarora TownshipIts storyC+

Questions about Greenwood Township’s history

How does Greenwood Township rank for history?

Greenwood Township is more historic than 46% 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 Greenwood Township?

20% of Greenwood Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1978.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 (10), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.