The story
Read it all →How Malvern came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Malvern.
The area was originally settled in the 17th century by Welsh immigrants who purchased land from William Penn.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B−History
History · Malvern
Malvern’s post office opened in 1876, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 45% of U.S. towns · #800 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1906 on, and the census since 1890.
1876first post office
0on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
2famous people
Quick answers
How Malvern began
When was Malvern founded?
1876
The Malvern post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1889.
First census: 641 in 18902020 census: 3,419150 years
How historic is Malvern?
B−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 45% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Malvern post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1889.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Malvern’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Malvern is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #800 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Malvern’s overall grade.
Founding era1876, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194025.5% of homes (±6.9) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%A−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical PA town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 45%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 23%
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 Malvern’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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.9 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1889 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Malvern’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Malvern’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Malvern’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Malvern on the map, 1906 to 1999
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Malvern. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1906Phoenixville sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Malvern.
Timeline
Malvern, 1876 to 1985
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1876Post officeThe Malvern post office opens
- 20th century
- 1906
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1922
Born hereFrank Spellman is born here - 1923
In the archiveMalvern PA 1st Presby PHS332 - 1962Born herePat Tryson is born here
- 1985
In the archivePresident Ronald Reagan Speaking at The Podium with Arlen Spector and Richard Thornburgh …
By decade
Malvern, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1920s1 item
1930s–1970snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your albumToday10 recent
2023White Horse Tavern, 606 Swedesford Road
2021Malvern PA Keystone Marker on King Road EB
2020Malvern-duffy-new1-2000x1449
2018Malvern Pennsylvania FD
2018Malvern Pennsylvania East
2018Malvern Pennsylvania 2
2013The Wharton Esherick Museum January 2013
2013Paoli Monument 1817
2013Paoli 1817 monument
2008Malvern Adminstrative Police and Library BuildingEvery building
Malvern, building by building, 1919
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.
1919Sheet 1 of 4BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewMalvern PA 1st Presby PHS332, 1923
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Malvern’s page.
Retake this view · +15People over time
Malvern, census by census
Grew from 641 people in 1890 to 3,419 in 2020, 5 times over.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Malvern’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →2 famous people were born in Malvern
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places that used to be
Old burying grounds
Malvern’s post office has been open since 1876.
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Malvern
Duffy's Cut Mass GraveMalvern Baptist ChurchPaoli Memorial Grounds
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Malvern’s history
What year was Malvern founded?
The Malvern post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1889.
How does Malvern rank for history?
Malvern is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #800 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.
How old are the homes in Malvern?
26% of Malvern’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.9 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1974.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
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 (12), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.