Hellertown dates to 1742, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns · #109 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Walnut Street Bridge and the Heller-Wagner Grist Mill (Hellertown). Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1823.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Hellertown’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hellertown is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #109 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hellertown’s overall grade.
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 Hellertown’s 8.2 sits above most of its state (74% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.4 points). Two sources give 1742.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). 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 Hellertown’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area that is now Hellertown was inhabited by the Lenape people.
Hellertown was founded in 1742 by Johann Christoph(er) Heller and his son Johann Simon Heller. The family was a group of Palatines who left Rotterdam on September 5, 1738, and landed in Philadelphia. Christopher obtained the patent for his land on September 8, 1742, and Simon received his patent on October 14, 1746. Together they owned a 176-acre property at the southern foot of the Lehigh Mountain along the Saucon Creek and constructed the family plantation named "Delay".
Passages that mention Hellertown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh under supervision and revision of William J. Heller, assisted by an advisory board of editors..1920 · page 484Read the page →
Read the text
Adam Heimer and a saw-mill by Jacob Heller. Settlements progressed rapidly, and at the commencement of the nineteenth century, Belfast, in the southern portion of the township, near the western boundary line, was regarded as a village, and Hellertown, named for Samuel Heller, who came in 1763 from North Saucon to that part of the township, was laid out in village lots. The population in 1870 was nearly 2,000, and within the township limits there were four grist-mills, two distilleries, one oil-mill, and seven public houses. The development of the slate industry caused a new excess
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh under supervision and revision of William J. Heller, assisted by an advisory board of editors..1920 · page 173Read the page →
Read the text
gomery county, Pennsylvania, June 6, 1866. He was educated in the public school.s and Perkiomcn Seminary, after which he spent four years in a printer's office, then for nine years he was a telegraph operator and station agent for the Reading railroad at various places. He came to Hellertown in 18S3, and during President Cleveland's second administration he was postmaster of the village from 1893 to 1897. After four years in the post-office he accepted a position in the South Bethlehem National Bank, and for seventeen years, 1897-1914, he was in the employ of that institution, ranking as
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.
By decade
Hellertown, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1885Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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.
Retake this viewDETAIL STUDY OF DOOR HOOD WITH DECORATIVE FRONT FACE AND MOLDINGS - Decorated Barn, Lower Saucon Township, Hellertown, …, 1933
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hellertown’s page.
In 1742, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Hellertown’s post office opened in 1823, and the census of 1880 counted 605 people here.
How does Hellertown rank for history?
Hellertown is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #109 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 Hellertown?
Two places: the Walnut Street Bridge (listed 2023) and the Heller-Wagner Grist Mill (Hellertown) (2025).
How old are the homes in Hellertown?
30% of Hellertown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.4 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1952.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
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