Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Hamilton Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
C+History
History · Hamilton Township

14% of Hamilton Township’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 36% of U.S. towns · #896 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it

Below: maps from 1908 on and the census since 2000.

0on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

About Hamilton Township’s history

How historic is Hamilton Township?

C+

More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
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 36% of U.S. towns, #896 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C+
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 194014.4% of homes (±5.2) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%BNational 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 36%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 13%

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 0.0 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 (±5.2 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.On the map since 19086 editions of the USGS map, 1908 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.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Hamilton Township on the map, 1908 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.

Hamilton Township on the 1908 USGS mapHamilton Township on the 1944 USGS mapHamilton Township on the 1951 USGS mapHamilton Township on the 1968 USGS mapHamilton Township on the 1973 USGS mapHamilton Township on the 1990 USGS map1908Gettysburg 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 Hamilton Township.

The story so far

Hamilton Township, in brief

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

Hamilton Township is a township in Adams County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,712 at the 2020 census.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,530 to 2,714 (+7%).

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

Timeline

Hamilton Township, 1860 to 1908

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1860Post officeThe Green Ridge post office opens
  3. 1870Post officeThe Green Ridge post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1908On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Hamilton Township, decade by decade

Today10 recent
Upper Conewago Brethren Church, Hamilton Twp., Adams Co., PA (2), July 20252025Upper Conewago Brethren Church, Hamilton Twp., Adams …Upper Conewago Brethren Church, Hamilton Twp., Adams Co., PA (1), July 20252025Upper Conewago Brethren Church, Hamilton Twp., Adams …US 30 wb at PA 94, July 20252025US 30 wb at PA 94, July 2025PA 194 sb, Hamilton Township, Adams County, July 20252025PA 194 sb, Hamilton Township, Adams County, July 2025PA 194 sb entering Hamilton Township, Adams County, July 20252025PA 194 sb entering Hamilton Township, Adams County, J…Hamilton Township, Adams County, PA Municipal Building, July 20252025Hamilton Township, Adams County, PA Municipal Buildin…US 30 EB past PA 942023US 30 EB past PA 94PA 94 NB past US 302023PA 94 NB past US 30House Hamilton Twp Adams Co PA2015House Hamilton Twp Adams Co PA1877 Barn Hamilton TWP AdamsCo PA20151877 Barn Hamilton TWP AdamsCo PA
People over time

Hamilton Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,00020002020Peak: 2,712

Between 2,044 and 2,712 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

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

1cemetery inside Hamilton Township
Mummerts Meetinghouse

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Paradise Township1 historic placeB+Reading TownshipIts storyC+HamptonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMount Pleasant Township1 historic placeB−Oxford TownshipIts storyC−Berwick TownshipIts storyCEast Berlin1 historic placeA+Abbottstown1 historic placeA

Questions about Hamilton Township’s history

How does Hamilton Township rank for history?

Hamilton Township is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #896 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.

How old are the homes in Hamilton Township?

14% of Hamilton Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1991.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (10), 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.