Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns · #130 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1820.
Norristown dates its founding to 1682 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1820.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Norristown is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #130 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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 Norristown’s 1.4 sits near the middle of its state (54% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 5 listings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveSeal of Norristown, Pennsylvania (1833–1986)
In the archiveDevault Weber - Inscription
In the archiveAn evening at Oakland. Romance, composed & respectfully dedicated to the senior class of …
In the archiveNorristown, Penna. 1881
In the archiveAdvert - W E Taber - Butter, Eggs and Farm Produce
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveCourt House
Born herePeter Boyle is born here
Born hereJaco Pastorius is born here
Born hereMaria Bello is born here
Born hereLisa Raymond is born hereEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Norristown. 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 Norristown.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1886Sheet 1 of 11Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Norristown.
Present-day Norristown was originally owned by the family of Isaac Norris. Along with William Trent, Norris purchased the land on October 7, 1704, for 50¢ per acre. In 1712, Norris acquired Trent's share and established a gristmill at the foot of present-day Water Street.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Norristown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Before going into a detailed account of the municipality of Norristown, with a list of its more important officials, it is well to know the vital facts connected with the history of the place before it was an incorporated borough. The village of Norristown, or rather the spot selected as the county seat, in 1784, when Montgomery county was separated from Philadelphia county, consisted of the new county buildings, a mill at the foot of Swede street, schoolhouse, two stores, three taverns, a dozen or not to exceed twenty dwellings, with less than one hundred
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Norristown Junction Railroad Company was chartered for the purpose of building a road to connect the Philadelphia, Germantowu and Norristown Railroad and the Stony Creek Railroad, and thereby save the transfer of freight, by wagons, from one depot to the other. The road was built in 1880, and extends from Marshall to Washington Street, along and near to JIarkley Street. After completion it was leased
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
the stone for the bridge built by the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad crossing the Wissahickon, for that crossing the Schuylkill at Manayunk and the bridge across the Perkioinen Creek built by the Pennsylvania Railroad. It supplies all the stone used for purposes of construction by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. The companjemploy one hundred men, two hoisting-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
For quite a period of time passengers from the city for Reading would come in the cars to Norristown, then stage it to Pottstown, where they would take the cars again to Reading; or a little later, when the road was finished to Bridgeport, passengers would be carried by omnibus from the Norristown depot to Bridgeport, and there take the cars for Reading. The first engine run over the Reading line was called the "Neversink," brought from Pottstown on wagons and unloaded there and put together on the track. Those days it was customary to give
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.
6 decades in the archive, from the 1830s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1833Seal of Norristown, Pennsylvania (1833–1986)Document1853Devault Weber - Inscription
1858Architectural drawing Norristown PA train station Jos…1860An evening at Oakland. Romance, composed & respectful…
1860Stereograph of D. Gault's house at Birmingham Chester…
1862Humane Engine House (50 years ago). Norristown, Penns…No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Norristown’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Between 827 and 38,925 people in every census since 1820.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Norristown’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Norristown’s post office has been open since 1798. Another post office, Hartranft, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1682, according to Wikidata. Norristown’s post office opened in 1798, and the census of 1820 counted 827 people here.
Norristown is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #130 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.
5 listings: 3 buildings and 2 historic districts, the Central Norristown Historic District and the West Norristown Historic District,.
33% of Norristown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1957.
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 Wikimedia Commons (6), the Library of Congress (6), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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, 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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