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Kennedy, Robert, Memorial Presbyterian ChurchKennedy, Robert, Memorial Presbyterian Church · Photo: Smallbones · CC0
B+History
History · Montgomery Township

Montgomery Township dates to 1887, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns · #440 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it

10 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 24 buildings between them. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1880.

1887founded
10on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Montgomery Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Montgomery Township began

When was Montgomery Township founded?

1887

Montgomery Township dates its founding to 1887 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 414 in 18802020 census: 5,740139 years

How historic is Montgomery Township?

B+

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1830.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Montgomery Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Montgomery Township is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #440 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Montgomery Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1887, from Wikipedia: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194017.9% of homes (±6.4) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register10 listings, 56 historic buildings, 97.3 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 72%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 58%

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 Montgomery Township’s 97.3 sits above most of its state (88% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 56 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1887.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.4 points).

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Montgomery Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages6 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Montgomery Township, and 8 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19005 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1990. Watch Montgomery Township change.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,166 in 1950; 1,568 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Six other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Welsh Run
1830–1906
Clay Lick
1862–1905
Kasiesville
1893–1905
Bino
1902–1905
Nova
1902–1905
Vanilla
1902–1905
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BinoClaylickKasiesvilleLenwood HeightsNovaShimpstownVanillaWelsh Run
10cemeteries and burying grounds inside Montgomery Township
AngleBlairs Valley Methodist ChurchMeyersMiller Farm FamilyNegleySecrestStech FamilyWelsh Run Brethren ChurchWelsh Run PresbyterianZuck Farm

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Montgomery Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Montgomery Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPennsylvania: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Montgomery Township on the map, 1900 to 1990

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Montgomery Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Montgomery Township on the 1900 USGS mapMontgomery Township on the 1943 USGS mapMontgomery Township on the 1968 USGS mapMontgomery Township on the 1973 USGS mapMontgomery Township on the 1990 USGS map1900Mercersburg 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 Montgomery Township.

The story

How Montgomery Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Montgomery Township.

Read it all →

Montgomery was incorporated as a borough by the Court of Quarter Sessions of the Peace of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania on March 21, 1887, from part of Clinton Township. The history of the settlement of Montgomery begins in 1783 when John Lawson established a homestead there. Nicholas Shaffer built a gristmill in Montgomery in 1795. A sawmill and a wool carding mill were other early industries found on Black Hole Creek which flows through Montgomery.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Montgomery Township in 1887

Passages that mention Montgomery Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.

April 14, 1857, the people of Mercersburg and surrounding community applied to the coiu't of Franklin County to be incorporated into a separate district from Montgomery Township. Viewers were appointed who met in June of the same year, and August 14, 1857, the grant was obtained. This, then, is the…
History of Franklin county, Pennsylvania1887 · page 514Read the page →
Read the text

April 14, 1857, the people of Mercersburg and surrounding community applied to the coiu't of Franklin County to be incorporated into a separate district from Montgomery Township. Viewers were appointed who met in June of the same year, and August 14, 1857, the grant was obtained. This, then, is the basis from which we date the existence of Mercersburg Independent School District.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
April 14, 1857, the people of Mercersburg and surrounding community applied to the court of Franklin County to be incorporated into a separate district from Montgomery Township. Viewers were appointed who met in June of the same. year, and August 14, 1857, the grant was obtained. This, then, is the…
History of Franklin County, Pennsylvania1887 · page 514Read the page →
Read the text

April 14, 1857, the people of Mercersburg and surrounding community applied to the court of Franklin County to be incorporated into a separate district from Montgomery Township. Viewers were appointed who met in June of the same. year, and August 14, 1857, the grant was obtained. This, then, is the basis from which we date the existence of Mercersburg Independent Sehool District. i Cn the 14th of September, 1857, Gcethean Hall and the lot of ground on which it stood were sold by Franklin and Marshall College to J. O. Carson, W.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Mountain to Baltimore. The site of the town is a beautiful one, being but three miles from North or Kittatinny Mountains, which lie in graceful waves along the west and, jn autumn, afford views of exceeding grandeur. The larger part of the town is in Montgomery Township, the remainder being in Pete…
History of Franklin county, Pennsylvania1887 · page 505Read the page →
Read the text

Mountain to Baltimore. The site of the town is a beautiful one, being but three miles from North or Kittatinny Mountains, which lie in graceful waves along the west and, jn autumn, afford views of exceeding grandeur. The larger part of the town is in Montgomery Township, the remainder being in Peters. settlement.

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

Montgomery Township, 1815 to 1950

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1815BuiltAngle Farm is built
  3. 1830Post officeThe Welsh Run post office opens
  4. 1862Post officeThe Clay Lick post office opens
  5. 1887
    FoundingMontgomery Township is established
  6. 1893BuiltMercersburg Academy is built
  7. 1893Post officeThe Kasiesville post office opens
  8. 20th century
  9. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1905Post officeThe Clay Lick post office closes
  11. 1905Post officeThe Kasiesville post office closes
  12. 1906Post officeThe Welsh Run post office closes
  13. 1917In the archivePennsylvania
  14. 1923In the archiveMontgomery PA Presby PHS377
  15. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 2,166
By decade

Montgomery Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1920s4 items
Pennsylvania1917PennsylvaniaPennsylvania1917PennsylvaniaPennsylvania1917PennsylvaniaMontgomery PA Presby PHS3771923Montgomery PA Presby PHS377
1930s–1990snothing 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 album
Today8 recent
Montgomery, Pennsylvania2011Montgomery, PennsylvaniaMontgomery, Pennsylvania2011Montgomery, PennsylvaniaGrace Prebyterian Church (Montgomery, Pennsylvania) (75)2011Grace Prebyterian Church (Montgomery, Pennsylvania) (…Pennsylvania State Route 542009Pennsylvania State Route 54Pennsylvania State Route 4052009Pennsylvania State Route 405Montgomery RR Tracks2009Montgomery RR TracksFALKNER SWAMP REFORMED CHURCH, MONTGOMERY CTY, PA2008FALKNER SWAMP REFORMED CHURCH, MONTGOMERY CTY, PAFALKNER REFORMED SWAMP CHURCH, MONTGOMERY COUNTY2008FALKNER REFORMED SWAMP CHURCH, MONTGOMERY COUNTY
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.

Pennsylvania
Retake this viewPennsylvania, 1917

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Montgomery Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

10 listings protect 56 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
10
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
56
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Hays Bridge Historic District
Hays Bridge Historic DistrictMansfieldMillmont FarmAngle Farm, built 1815Col. John Work HouseMcCoy-Shoemaker FarmMercersburg Academy, built 1893Rock Hill FarmKennedy, Robert, Memorial Presbyterian ChurchIrwinton Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Georgian2
Vernacular2
Greek Revival2
Federal1
Gothic Revival1
German Revival1
Hays Bridge Historic DistrictDistrict
MansfieldBuilding
Millmont FarmFederal
Angle FarmVernacular · Built 1815
Col. John Work HouseBuilding
McCoy-Shoemaker FarmBuilding
Mercersburg AcademyGothic Revival · Built 1893
Rock Hill FarmVernacular
All 10 listings
Kennedy, Robert, Memorial Presbyterian ChurchBuilding · listed 2009Irwinton Historic DistrictBuilding · listed 2012

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Montgomery Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,166

Peaked at 2,166 in 1950; 1,568 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Montgomery Township’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Peters Township4 historic placesA−Warren Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAntrim Township4 historic placesB+Mercersburg2 historic placesA+

Questions about Montgomery Township’s history

What year was Montgomery Township founded?

In 1887, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Montgomery Township’s post office opened in 1830, and the census of 1880 counted 414 people here.

How does Montgomery Township rank for history?

Montgomery Township is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #440 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 Montgomery Township?

10 listings: 7 buildings and 3 historic districts, the Hays Bridge Historic District, the Mercersburg Academy and the Rock Hill Farm, with 24 contributing buildings. 56 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Montgomery Township?

18% of Montgomery Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.4 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1980.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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), the National Register of Historic Places (10), 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.