New Holland dates to 1728, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 90% of U.S. towns · #180 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Its Register listings are the John Casper Stoever Log House and the New Holland Machine Company. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1906 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1800.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives New Holland’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New Holland is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #180 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of New Holland’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 New Holland’s 3.5 sits near the middle of its state (63% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
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 (±8.6 points). Two sources give 1728.
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 New Holland’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
New Holland was settled in 1728 by brothers John Michael and John Phillip Ranc (Ranck). Before it became known as New Holland, it had been called "Hog Swamp", "Earltown" and "New Design".
The New Holland Machine Company, which later became New Holland Agriculture, was founded here in 1895 by Abe Zimmerman. New Holland Machine Company is listed alongside John Casper Stoever Log House on the National Register of Historic Places.
New Holland has been the twin city of Longvic, France, since 1967 because there was a Case New Holland plant in the French commune.
Passages that mention New Holland, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of New Holland, Pennsylvania1928 · page 111Read the page →
Read the text
what must be withheld, encouraging reminiscent notes of the place, and above all, numerous, spicy and pointed editorials. He helped to obtain the railroad in 1876; encouraged by the Clarion, New Holland had the greatest Centennial Celebration of any county town. He saw the first National Bank in eastern Lancaster County, organized at New Holland in 1881; the railroad through to Lancaster in 1890; the town become incorporated into a Borough in 1895 (he
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A history of New Holland, Pennsylvania1928 · page 56Read the page →
Read the text
which I find the following: Anno Dommini 1786 ““The Rev. Mr. Melsheimer, minister of the German Lutheran Congregation at New Holland, after previous consultations first had with diverse persons upon the the subject of building a common German and English School house, proceeded to open a subscription paper in the German language about the neighborhood of New Holland
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.
By decade
New Holland, decade by decade
3 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
New Holland, census by census
Grew from 672 people in 1850 to 5,743 in 2020, 8 times over.
17 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on New Holland’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Places now gone and burying grounds
New Holland’s post office has been open since 1800.
Gone or out of use
New Holland Post Officepost office
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside New Holland
New Holland United MethodistSaint Stephen United Church of ChristTrinity Lutheran
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about New Holland’s history
What year was New Holland founded?
In 1728, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. New Holland’s post office opened in 1800, and the census of 1850 counted 672 people here.
How does New Holland rank for history?
New Holland is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #180 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 New Holland?
Two places: the John Casper Stoever Log House (listed 1987) and the New Holland Machine Company (2000).
How old are the homes in New Holland?
23% of New Holland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.6 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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, 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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