Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns · #521 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Below: maps from 1908 on and the census since 1870.
Manchester dates its founding to 1814 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Manchester is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns, #521 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Manchester’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.
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 →
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 Manchester’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Manchester. 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 Manchester.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Manchester.
Settled in 1814, the village of Liverpool (now Manchester) was incorporated in 1869 in the eastern section of Manchester Township. During the Gettysburg campaign of the American Civil War, Liverpool's merchants were raided by the 17th Virginia Cavalry.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Manchester, cut from the printed page as they were published.
There was another from the inhabitants of the lower part of Yoi'ktown, near the bridge, and another from the inhabitants of West Manchester Township for a road to be laid out to the north part of Manchester and Newberry Townships, to cross the Codorus opposite Water Street, and that they had raised a subscription for building a bridge and main-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
John Penn and Richard Penn, for 297 acres of land, west of the Codorus Creek, adjoining the town of York, in the township of Manchester. He was an industrious farmer, having emigrated from Germany a few years before and purchased a lot in York.
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.
2011Pennsylvania State Route 181
2011Pennsylvania State Route 181
2009Pennsylvania State Route 181
2009Pennsylvania State Route 181
2009Pennsylvania State Route 181
2009Pennsylvania State Route 181
2009Pennsylvania State Route 181
2009Pennsylvania State Route 181
2009Pennsylvania State Route 181
2009Pennsylvania State Route 181
2009Pennsylvania State Route 181
2009Manchester, PA Keystone MarkerGrew from 406 people in 1870 to 2,800 in 2020, 6 times over.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Manchester’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Manchester itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1814, according to Wikidata. Manchester’s post office opened in 1827, and the census of 1870 counted 406 people here.
Manchester is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns, #521 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.
26% of Manchester’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.8 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1975.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (12), Wikipedia, 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 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.
