Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1894 on and old-book passages.
The Linwood post office opened in 1923, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 Linwood’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Linwood. 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 Linwood.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Linwood yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Linwood is a census-designated place (CDP) in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,281 at the 2010 census.
Its first post office opened in 1923. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,281 to 3,949 (+20%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Linwood, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The village of Linwood is a direct outgrowth of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, and its history does not extend backward in our annals a half-century. The incidents connected with the story of Lower Chichester I have already given, so far as I have information.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Linwood Mills, at Trainer's Station, on Chichester Creek, occupy the site of a grist-mill erected on that stream, about the middle of the last century, by John Price, the then owner of the land. In 1790, Samuel Price, his son, owned the mill, which was operated by George Pearson. In 1806, Samuel Price having died previous to 1802, David Trainer, the father of the present owner, purchased the grist-mill,
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Linwood post office opened in 1923, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.
