The Nether Providence Township post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Nether Providence (1828), Wallingford (1878) and Moylan (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 2,833 in 19302020 census: 14,525198 years
How historic is Nether Providence Township?
A−
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Nether Providence Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Nether Providence Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Nether Providence Township is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #317 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Nether Providence 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 Nether Providence Township’s 5.5 sits above most of its state (69% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% of U.S. towns.
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 (±3.8 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 Nether Providence Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Nether Providence Township on the map, 1894 to 1994
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Nether Providence Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1894Chester 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 Nether Providence Township.
The story
How Nether Providence Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Nether Providence Township.
The first recorded inhabitants of Nether Providence Township were Native Americans of the Lenape tribe, who lived in the area for about five hundred years, but by 1740 few remained. On August 14, 1682, two months before William Penn's landing in Chester, John Sharpless came to the area. Penn had given Sharpless a thousand-acre (4-km2) tract, and he settled near Ridley Creek.
Questions about Nether Providence Township’s history
What year was Nether Providence Township founded?
The Nether Providence Township post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Nether Providence Township rank for history?
Nether Providence Township is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #317 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 Nether Providence Township?
Three places: the Thomas Leiper Estate (listed 1970), the Wolley Stille (1980) and the Westlawn (1988).
How old are the homes in Nether Providence Township?
15% of Nether Providence Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1959.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, 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.
