Lancaster Township dates to 1730, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns · #106 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
7 places in town are on the National Register, among them the James Buchanan House, a National Historic Landmark, and two historic districts with 185 buildings between them. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1790.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1889.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lancaster Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lancaster Township is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #106 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lancaster 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 Lancaster Township’s 109 sits above most of its state (89% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 203 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.7 points). Two sources give 1730.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Lancaster Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
On the map
Lancaster Township on the map, 1902 to 1995
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lancaster Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1902Lancaster 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 Lancaster Township.
Originally called Hickory Town, Lancaster was renamed after the English city of Lancaster by native John Wright. Its symbol, the red rose, is from the House of Lancaster. Lancaster was part of the 1681 Penn's Woods Charter of William Penn, and was laid out by James Hamilton in 1734. It was incorporated as a borough in 1742 and incorporated as a city in 1818.
In the summer of 1744 the Lancaster courthouse was the venue for an important colonial treaty between the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the Provinces of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. Conrad Weiser served as interpreter, and the text of the treaty was soon after published by Benjamin Franklin.
8cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lancaster Township
Conestoga Memorial ParkDegel IsraelGableHamilton Park United Church of Christ Memorial GardenSaint Anthonys Roman CatholicSaint Josephs New CatholicShank HomesteadStevens Greenland
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Finish Lancaster Township’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
In 1730, according to Wikidata. Lancaster Township’s post office opened in 1889, and the first U.S. census counted 3,762 people here in 1790.
How does Lancaster Township rank for history?
Lancaster Township is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #106 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.
What is on the National Register in Lancaster Township?
7 listings: 5 buildings, among them the James Buchanan House (a National Historic Landmark since 1961), and 2 historic districts, the Northeast Lancaster Township Historic District and the Totten House, with 185 contributing buildings. 203 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Lancaster Township?
19% of Lancaster Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1968.
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 (10), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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.
★ Landmark
1748
1748
1844
1845
1845
1845
1863