Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1920 on and the census since 1880.
New Salem dates its founding to 1876 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
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 Salem’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of New Salem. 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 Salem.
From Wikipedia’s history of New Salem.
New Salem, or York New Salem, added the prefix York because of a dispute between another borough with the same name in Pennsylvania. No two boroughs can have the same name for postal reasons, according to the federal government. New Salem was founded by settlers from Salem, Massachusetts and from settlers from nearby York.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention New Salem, cut from the printed page as they were published.
New Salem Borough, in the eastern part of North Codorus is a pleasant village of about sixty houses. It was recently incorporated.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
New Salem Borough, in the eastern part of North Codorus is a pleasant village of about sixty houses. It was recently incorporated.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
New Salem Church. — This church was built about 1840, by the Evangelical Association. It is situated five miles south of East Prospect, near the borders of Chanceford Township, about a mile south of Martinsville.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
New Salem Church. — This church was built about 1840, by the Evangelical Association. It is situated five miles south of East Prospect, near the borders of Chanceford Township, about a mile south of Martinsville.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereIsaac Newton Lewis is born here
Born hereEbenezer F. Porter is born here
Born hereCharles Edgar Woodward is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyBetween 224 and 832 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on New Salem’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1876, according to Wikidata. New Salem’s post office opened in 1874, and the census of 1880 counted 224 people here.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata (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 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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2026
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