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C+History
History · Horton Township

19% of Horton Township’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1941 on and the census since 2000.

0on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
Photo: Nicholas · CC BY 2.0
Quick answers

About Horton Township’s history

How historic is Horton Township?

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More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Horton Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Horton Township is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Horton Township’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 43%
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 Horton 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 (±5.1 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 Horton Township’s past

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

★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Hellen
1828–1874
Brandy Camp
1861–today
Shawmut
1866–1942
Brockport
1874–today
Challenge
1889–1914
Cartwright
1890–1919
Elbon
1892–1964
Drummond
1904–1909
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Beech GroveBrandy CampBrockportCartwrightChallengeDrummondElbonHelen MillsHorton CityShawmut
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Horton Township
Brandy CampBrockportHoly CrossMountain Church

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

Help out

Start Horton Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Horton Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
The story so far

Horton Township, in brief

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

Horton Township is a township in Elk County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,365 at the 2020 census, down from 1,452 in 2010.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,452 to 1,366 (-6%).

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

Timeline

Horton Township, 1828 to 1942

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1828Post officeThe Hellen post office opens
  3. 1861Post officeThe Brandy Camp post office opens
  4. 1866Post officeThe Shawmut post office opens
  5. 1874Post officeThe Hellen post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1941On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1942Post officeThe Shawmut post office closes
By decade

Horton Township, decade by decade

On the map

Horton Township on the map, 1941 to 1981

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

Horton Township on the 1941 USGS mapHorton Township on the 1970 USGS mapHorton Township on the 1981 USGS map1941Ridgway 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 Horton Township.

People over time

Horton Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,60020002020Peak: 1,574

Between 1,365 and 1,574 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Horton Township

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

See all →
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Questions about Horton Township’s history

How does Horton Township rank for history?

Horton Township is more historic than 43% 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 Horton Township?

19% of Horton Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1973.

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 (6), 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.