Menallen Township’s post office opened in 1831, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 72% of U.S. towns · #449 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Cline's Church of the United Brethren in Christ. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 2000.
From Menallen Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Menallen Township began
When was Menallen Township founded?
1831
The Menallen Township post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Menallen (1831), Flora Dale (1861) and Wenks (1868), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 2,974 in 20002020 census: 3,701195 years
How historic is Menallen Township?
B+
More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Menallen Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Menallen Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Menallen Township is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #449 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Menallen 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 Menallen Township’s 2.7 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Menallen Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Menallen Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1909Fairfield 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 Menallen Township.
The story so far
Menallen Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Menallen Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Menallen Township is a township that is located in Adams County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,515 at the time of the 2010 census. This American township is named after an older variant spelling of Moyallen, County Down, now in Northern Ireland.
Its first post office opened in 1831. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,515 to 3,701 (+5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Menallen Township in 1886
Passages that mention Menallen Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
history of adams county pennsylvania.1886 · page 304Read the page →
Read the text
QGottysburg and Carlisle road for $1,456. In 1859 Francis Cole built the wooden bridge at Cole's saw-mill, on the Conowago, for $699. In 1808 a stone bridye was erected by Contractor John Murphy, over the Conowago, in Menallen Township at Fehl’s mills. The length was fifty-two feet, three arches; cost $1,787. ‘This bridge was replaced by a wooden structure some years prior to 1870. In 1870 an iron bridge was built by Samuel Stouffer over Opossum Creek, at Eppelman’s mill, for $1,592, The Gettysburg and Newville road was laid out in 1829-30 by J. F. McFar-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
history of adams county pennsylvania.1886 · page 473Read the page →
Read the text
Corps, serving until after the surrender of Lee. He was in the battle of Fort Steadman and the charge before Petersburg, and was honorably discharged with his regiment, in June, 1865. After his return home he engaged asa broker, selling nursery stock for about thirteen years. In 1869 he came to Menallen Township, and located near the present depot, on a farm. In 1878 he turned his entire attention to farming and milling, and about the same time bought the brick-mill at the station, having previously purchased the steam mill north of Bendersville, and operated both for three years, but at present he rents them. In 1882, when the railroad was first proposed, he took an active part in acquiring
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.
Timeline
Menallen Township, 1831 to 1957
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
The Menallen Township post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Menallen Township rank for history?
Menallen Township is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #449 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 Menallen Township?
One place: the Cline's Church of the United Brethren in Christ (listed 2002).
How old are the homes in Menallen Township?
14% of Menallen Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1987.
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 (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 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.
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