1 of Lower Salford Township’s places is on the National Register
More historic than 47% of U.S. towns · #780 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Dielman Kolb Homestead. Most of Lower Salford Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: maps from 1888 on and the census since 1930.
What drives Lower Salford Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lower Salford Township is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #780 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lower Salford 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 Salford Township’s 0.6 sits near the middle of its state (52% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±3.9 points).
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 Salford 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
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Harleysville
1844–today
Lederachsville
1859–1907
Mainland
1877–today
Vernfield
1898–1972
Lederach
1907–today
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Apple Tree EstatesBelcourt ManorBellingham KnollCheswyckHarley GlenHarleysvilleHarleysville HomesteadHickory Tree EstatesHunter CrestIndian Crest FarmsLederachMainlandPenn Oak ManorRosecliffSalford PondStormfieldSummerwindThe Estates at Fawn RidgeThe HeathersVernfieldVilla of Flair Skippack VillageVillage at Salford MillVillage Brook Estate
Gone or out of use
Yarrow Airportairport
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lower Salford Township
HamanIndian Creek BrethrenLederachPriceSalford MennoniteSalford Schwenkfelder
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Lower Salford Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lower Salford 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 Salford Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1888Quakertown 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 Salford Township.
The story
How Lower Salford Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Lower Salford Township.
Lower Salford was originally part of the larger Salford Township, until, in March 1741 Jacob Reiff petitioned the Court of Quarter Sessions of Philadelphia County to split the Township into what are now called Lower Salford, Upper Salford, Marlborough, and Franconia Townships. Lower Salford contains the villages of Harleysville, Lederach, Mainland, and Vernfield.
The area around Lower Salford was originally settled in the early 1700s by farmers from Germany, Switzerland, and Holland. Because of this, most people at the time spoke primarily Pennsylvania Dutch, until the mid 1900s.
Lower Salford Township is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #780 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 Salford Township?
One place: the Dielman Kolb Homestead (listed 1973).
How old are the homes in Lower Salford Township?
9% of Lower Salford Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1986.
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, 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.
