Moon Township dates to 1788, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 75% of U.S. towns · #405 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Most of Moon Township was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 106 buildings. Below: maps from 1906 on and the census since 1850.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1841.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Moon Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Moon Township is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #405 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 Moon 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 Moon Township’s 39.4 sits above most of its state (85% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 106 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1788.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share (±1.8 points) is firm at this size.
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 →
What stands out about Moon Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The initial settlement of Moon Township was a direct result of the westward expansion of English settlers and traders who arrived in the Ohio Valley in the early to mid-18th century. During the French and Indian War, the Iroquois, who controlled the land for hunting grounds through right of conquest, ceded large parcels of southwestern Pennsylvania lands through treaty or abandonment to settlers. In some cases, the land was already occupied by squatters who were to be forced off the land. In the face of this turmoil, Native American settlements of the south bank of the Ohio River typically relocated to more populous areas of the north bank in the current locales of Sewickley and Ambridge.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Moon Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1906Sewickley 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 Moon Township.
People over time
Moon Township, census by census
Grew from 1,383 people in 1850 to 27,261 in 2020, more than tenfold.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Moon Township’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
3 famous people were born in Moon Township
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
In 1788, according to Wikidata. Moon Township’s post office opened in 1841, and the census of 1850 counted 1,383 people here.
How does Moon Township rank for history?
Moon Township is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #405 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 Moon Township?
One place: the Mooncrest Historic District (listed 2013).
How old are the homes in Moon Township?
5% of Moon Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) 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.
