The story
Read it all →How Hamilton Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Hamilton Township.
A post office has been in operation at Hamilton since 1852. Robert Hamilton was the first postmaster.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C+History
History · Hamilton Township
1 of Hamilton Township’s places is on the National Register
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns · #821 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Bridge between Guilford and Hamilton Townships. Most of Hamilton Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Below: maps from 1902 on.
1on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
About Hamilton Township’s history
How historic is Hamilton Township?
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What drives the grade ↓More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Hamilton Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hamilton Township is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #821 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hamilton Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19407.4% of homes (±4.3) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register1 listing, 0.9 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 43%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 21%
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 Hamilton Township’s 0.9 sits near the middle of its state (53% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±4.3 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 Hamilton 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 Hamilton Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Hamilton Township, and 9 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19025 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1990. Watch Hamilton Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Hamilton Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hamilton Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Another post office, Housum, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
CashtownCheesetownHamilton HeightsHousumKensington HeightsPleasant ViewSandy HookTurkeyfootWest Hamilton Heights
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hamilton Township
CashtownCorpus ChristiEmanuel's Liberal United Brethren ChurchLebanonMount OlivetPleasant View Mennonite
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Hamilton Township on the map, 1902 to 1990
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hamilton Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1902Chambersburg 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 Hamilton Township.
Timeline
Hamilton Township, 1889 to 1902
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1889Post officeThe Housum post office opens
- 20th century
- 1901Post officeThe Housum post office closes
- 1902
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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 historic place in Hamilton 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 between Guilford and Hamilton Townships
Structures
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 Hamilton Township
Nobody well known was born in Hamilton Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Hamilton Township’s history
How does Hamilton Township rank for history?
Hamilton Township is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #821 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 Hamilton Township?
One place: the Bridge between Guilford and Hamilton Townships (listed 1988).
How old are the homes in Hamilton Township?
7% of Hamilton Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1988.
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.