Its Register listings are the Isaac Manchester House and the Plantation Plenty. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1907 on, and the census since 2000.
The Independence Township post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Independence (1827), Dunn's Fort (1833) and Dunsfort (1869), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,676 in 20002020 census: 1,515199 years
How historic is Independence Township?
A
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Independence Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Independence Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Independence Township is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Independence Township’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 Independence Township’s 127 sits above most of its state (90% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 15 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Independence Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Independence Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1907Claysville 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 Independence Township.
The story
How Independence Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Independence Township.
Independence Township was originally a part of Hopewell Township for the first almost seventy-five years from the formation of Hopewell in 1781. A petition was presented to the Court of Quarter Sessions in November 1854, requesting a division of the Hopewell Township. "The court appointed as viewers Lysander Patterson, John Cole, Esq., and William Gillespie. The matter was continued from term to term until February sessions of 1856, when the court ordered the division and the erection of a new township, to be called Independence, elections to be held at the house of William White. in the village of Independence."
The Isaac Manchester House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
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.
The Independence Township post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Independence Township rank for history?
Independence Township is more historic than 93% 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.
What is on the National Register in Independence Township?
Two places: the Isaac Manchester House (listed 1975) and the Plantation Plenty (2016).
How old are the homes in Independence Township?
28% of Independence Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1971.
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 (9), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.
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