Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0More historic than 57% of U.S. towns · #638 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Most of New London Township was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Its Register listing is the Stephens, Linton, Covered Bridge. Below: maps from 1904 on and the census since 1930.
The New London Township post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 57% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New London Township is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #638 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 London Township’s 1.7 sits near the middle of its state (56% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how New London Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of New London Township. 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 New London Township.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereThomas McKean is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of New London Township.
New London Township was chartered in 1723. The Rudolph and Arthur Covered Bridge and Linton Stephens Covered Bridge are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The 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 576 people in 1930 to 5,810 in 2020, more than tenfold.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on New London Township’s Wikipedia page.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The New London Township post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
New London Township is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #638 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.
One place: the Stephens, Linton, Covered Bridge (listed 1980).
6% of New London Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1995.
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 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.
