The story
Read it all →How Juniata Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Juniata Township.
The Little Buffalo Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B−History
History · Juniata Township
Juniata Township’s post office opened in 1827, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 53% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1907 on and old-book passages.
1827first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Juniata Township began
When was Juniata Township founded?
1827
The Juniata Township post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Juniata (1827), Markelsville (1857) and Wila (1904), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,537199 years
How historic is Juniata Township?
B−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 53% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Juniata Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Juniata Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Juniata Township is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Juniata Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1827, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194012.7% of homes (±4.3) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%B−National 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 53%
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 Juniata 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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.3 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 Juniata 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 Juniata Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Juniata Township, and 4 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19075 editions of the USGS map, 1907 to 1973. Watch Juniata Township change.Deep rootsA post office since 1827: 199 years of Juniata Township.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Juniata Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Juniata Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices and old corners
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Juniata
Markelsville
Wila
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
MarkelsvilleWahnetaWalnut GroveWila
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Juniata Township on the map, 1907 to 1973
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Juniata Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1907New Bloomfield sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Juniata Township.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Juniata Township in 1922
Passages that mention Juniata Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Perry County, Pennsylvania, including descriptions of Indians and pioneer life from the time of earliest settlement1922 · page 976Read the page →
Read the text
pears to have heen built upon the lands of William Rice, in Tuscarora Township, about two miles from Millerstown. Rev. J. J. Kerr was instrumental in having it torn down and removed from that location to lands of Andrew T. Brown, in Juniata Township, later owned by Isaiah Mitchell, and now by Harvey Ulsh. Since it has been located in Juniata Township the Newport Lutheran pastors have supplied it. See Newport chapter.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History Of Perry County, Pennsylvania1922 · page 974Read the page →
Read the text
pears to have been built upon the lands of William Rice, in Tuscarora Township, about two miles from Millerstown. Rev. J. J. Kerr was instrumental in having it torn down and removed from that location to lands of Andrew T. Brown, in Juniata Township, later owned by Isaiah Mitchell, and now by Harvey Ulsh. Since it has been located in Juniata Township the Newport Lutheran pastors have supplied it. See Newport chapter.
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.
Timeline
Juniata Township, 1827 to 1961
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1827Post officeThe Juniata post office opens
- 1857Post officeThe Markelsville post office opens
- 20th century
- 1904Post officeThe Juniata post office closes
- 1904Post officeThe Wila post office opens
- 1907
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1957Post officeThe Markelsville post office closes
- 1961Post officeThe Wila post office closes
By decade
Juniata Township, decade by decade
2025
2025
2025
2025
2025
2025Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Juniata Township
Nobody well known was born in Juniata Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Juniata Township’s history
What year was Juniata Township founded?
The Juniata Township post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Juniata Township rank for history?
Juniata Township is more historic than 53% 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 Juniata Township?
13% of Juniata Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1983.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.