Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 25% of U.S. towns · #977 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Most of Lancaster Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1908 on, and old-book passages.
More historic than 25% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lancaster Township is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns, #977 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Lancaster 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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lancaster Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lancaster Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lancaster Township.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lancaster Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Lancaster Township is a township in Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 2,747.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,532 to 2,745 (+8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Lancaster Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Middle Lancaster, the leading town of Lancaster Township, was made a post office in 1847, and when it was established, William Beighley, Sr., was made postmaster. The pioneer settlers at Middle Lancaster were John and Elizabeth (Baumgartner) Ruby, and together they first cleared a site from the forest and erected a log cabin, this being probably about 1820. This property passed into the hands of Lewis Teats, who subsequently sold to Thomas B. Baldwin, a negro, and possibly for some time this fact prevented the investing
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Nicholas Muhleisen (Milliron in English) came about the same time as Mr. Beighle and made his permanent settlement in Lancaster Township, in 1797. The Beighles and Muhleisens made frequent trips back and forth to Westmoreland County on foot while they were getting their families settled in Butler County, and afterwards to obtain supplies.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lancaster Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Lancaster Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, Middle Lancaster, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Lancaster Township is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns, #977 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.
9% of Lancaster Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.4 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1995.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (4), 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.
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