1 of Lower Macungie Township’s places is on the National Register
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns · #813 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Rodale Organic Gardening Experimental Farm. Most of Lower Macungie Township was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 1970.
What drives Lower Macungie Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lower Macungie Township is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #813 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lower Macungie 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 Lower Macungie Township’s 1.5 sits near the middle of its state (55% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±1.6 points) is firm at this size.
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 →
What stands out about Lower Macungie Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Trexlertown
1821–today
Wescosville
1845–1971
Hensingersville
1858–1868
East Texas
1872–today
Minesite
1893–1903
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Ancient OaksCentrevilleEast TexasHensingersvilleMinesiteSpring CreekWeilersvilleWescosville
Gone or out of use
Knepper Airportairport
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lower Macungie Township
Bethany United MethodistCedar HeightsLehigh ZionSaint Anne's Episcopal Church Memorial GardenSaint Pauls United Church of ChristSalem United Methodist Church
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Lower Macungie Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lower Macungie Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lower Macungie Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1902Slatington 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 Lower Macungie Township.
The story
How Lower Macungie Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Lower Macungie Township.
Before European settlement, the area that now includes Lower Macungie Township was inhabited by the Lenape Indian tribe. They hunted here, and are known to have had a few small seasonal villages and jasper workshops close to streams and springs. Jasper from their quarries outside present-day Macungie and Vera Cruz was traded throughout North America.
How does Lower Macungie Township rank for history?
Lower Macungie Township is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #813 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 Lower Macungie Township?
One place: the Rodale Organic Gardening Experimental Farm (listed 1999).
How old are the homes in Lower Macungie Township?
5% of Lower Macungie Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1993.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
