Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 90% of U.S. towns · #181 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Central Hotel, the Brown's, George, Sons Cotton and Woolen Mill and the Nissly Swiss Chocolate Company. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1860.
Mount Joy dates its founding to 1812 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1860.
More historic than 90% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mount Joy is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #181 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
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 Mount Joy’s 14.4 sits above most of its state (80% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 12 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% 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.
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 year, then a sheet.
1886Sheet 1 of 4Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mount Joy. 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 Mount Joy.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Lancaster County - Mount Joy - ED …
In the archiveMount Joy, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 1894
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveMt Joy PA 1st Presby PHS387Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Mount Joy yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Mount Joy is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,346 at the 2020 census, and an estimated 8,323 in 2021.
Mount Joy was established in 1812. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 7,410 to 8,325 (+12%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Mount Joy, cut from the printed page as they were published.
llM.l Florin, or Springville.— Tliis is a pretty cluster of dwellings, lying one mile west of Mount Joy borough, on the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and like its larger neighbor, it is partly in the township of Mount Joy and partly in East Donegal, the Lancaster and Harrisburg turnpike being the dividing line. Christian Ilertzler inirchased, in 1812, the farm
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Banking. — The first financial establi-lnnent in the borough was the Mount Joy Savings Institution, which was incorporated in 1853. By a su|)plement to its charter this was made, in 18G0, the Mount Joy Bank, and in 1865 it was organized, under the national banking law, with the name Union National Mount Joy Bank. At the time of the original organiz ition, in 1853, Henry Eberle was made president and An-
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.
3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Mount Joy’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 1,729 people in 1860 to 8,325 in 2020, 4 times over.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mount Joy’s Wikipedia page.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1812, according to Wikidata. Mount Joy’s post office opened in 1818, and the census of 1860 counted 1,729 people here.
Mount Joy is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #181 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.
Three places: the Central Hotel (listed 1973), the Brown's, George, Sons Cotton and Woolen Mill (1995) and the Nissly Swiss Chocolate Company (1996).
25% of Mount Joy’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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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