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History · Howe Township

Howe Township’s post office opened in 1852, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1935 on and the census since 2000.

1852first post office
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Alexvallejo at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Howe Township began

When was Howe Township founded?

1852

The Howe Township post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name. Nine smaller post offices, Foxburgh (1852), Howe (1852) and Brookston (1876), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 417 in 20002020 census: 194174 years
Founding year: the first Howe Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Howe Township’s past

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

Lost villages9 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Howe Township, and 12 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Howe Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Foxburgh
1852–1868
Howe
1852–1867
Brookston
1876–1934
Pigeon
1882–1943
Balltown
1883–1895
Mayburg
1889–1943
Lynch
1892–1921
Watson Farm
1892–1913
Truemans
1901–1959
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BalltownBlue JayBrookstonHastingsIron CityLynchMayburgMinisterPigeonPorkeySheffield JunctionTruemans
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Howe Township
BrookstonFrost

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

Help out

Start Howe Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Howe 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
The story so far

Howe Township, in brief

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

Howe Township is a township in Forest County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 201 at the 2020 census, down from 405 in 2010.

Its first post office opened in 1852. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 405 to 194 (-52%).

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

Timeline

Howe Township, 1852 to 1935

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1852Post officeThe Foxburgh post office opens
  3. 1852Post officeThe Howe post office opens
  4. 1867Post officeThe Howe post office closes
  5. 1868Post officeThe Foxburgh post office closes
  6. 1876Post officeThe Brookston post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1934Post officeThe Brookston post office closes
  9. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Howe Township, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Pennsylvania State Route 6662014Pennsylvania State Route 666Pennsylvania State Route 6662014Pennsylvania State Route 666Pennsylvania State Route 6662014Pennsylvania State Route 666Pennsylvania State Route 6662014Pennsylvania State Route 666Flickr - Nicholas T - Hyperbole2012Flickr - Nicholas T - HyperboleMinister Creek - Allegheny National Forest2007Minister Creek - Allegheny National Forest
On the map

Howe Township on the map, 1935 to 1973

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

Howe Township on the 1935 USGS mapHowe Township on the 1941 USGS mapHowe Township on the 1966 USGS mapHowe Township on the 1973 USGS map1935Sheffield 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 Howe Township.

People over time

Howe Township, census by census

010020030040020002020Peak: 417

Between 201 and 417 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Jenks TownshipIts storyCSheffield TownshipIts storyB+Highland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCherry Grove TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townKingsley TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWetmore TownshipIts storyB+

Questions about Howe Township’s history

What year was Howe Township founded?

The Howe Township post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

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.