Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1808.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Myerstown’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Myerstown is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns, #123 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Myerstown’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 Myerstown’s 3.2 sits near the middle of its state (62% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1763.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.2 points).
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 Myerstown’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
On December 24, 1757, 249 acres (1.01 km2) of land was deeded to Isaac Meier and wife Catherine, who built their house at the Hergelrode site on South College Street. As early as 1763 he began deeding out lots and planned to make a town which he called Tulpehocken Town, after the Tulpehocken Creek, which runs through the borough.
Meier was fatally shot by an unknown assassin on July 14, 1770, at the Henry Buch House on 40 West Main Street which was a tavern at that time. After his death the citizens of Tulpehocken Town began to call it Meier's Town after him.
The Isaac Meier Homestead was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
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.
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.
In 1763, according to Wikidata. Myerstown’s post office opened in 1808, and the census of 1880 counted 1,580 people here.
How does Myerstown rank for history?
Myerstown is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns, #123 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 Myerstown?
One place: the Isaac Meier Homestead (listed 1973).
How old are the homes in Myerstown?
47% of Myerstown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.2 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1942.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (2), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1905
1906
2009
