The story
Read it all →How North Buffalo Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of North Buffalo Township.
North Buffalo Township appears in the 1876 Atlas of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
CHistory
History · North Buffalo Township
North Buffalo Township’s post office opened in 1870, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 30% of U.S. towns · #950 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Below: maps from 1900 on.
1870first post office
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How North Buffalo Township began
When was North Buffalo Township founded?
1870
The North Buffalo Township post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, North Buffalo (1870) and McHaddon (1884), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 2,699156 years
How historic is North Buffalo Township?
C
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 30% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first North Buffalo Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives North Buffalo Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, North Buffalo Township is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #950 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of North Buffalo Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1870, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194011.0% of homes (±5.0) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical PA town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 30%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 8%
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 North Buffalo Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.0 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 North Buffalo Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of North Buffalo Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s North Buffalo Township, and 5 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19005 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1993. Watch North Buffalo Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start North Buffalo Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how North Buffalo Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
North Buffalo
McHaddon
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Center HillMcHaddonNorth BuffaloSistersvilleWest Ford City
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside North Buffalo Township
BonnerCenter Hill Church of the BrethrenCowanGrace Brethren ChurchGreenGuardian AngelUnion Baptist
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
North Buffalo Township on the map, 1900 to 1993
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of North Buffalo Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1900Kittanning sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of North Buffalo Township.
Timeline
North Buffalo Township, 1870 to 1905
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumFamous people
See all →Famous people close to North Buffalo Township
Nobody well known was born in North Buffalo Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about North Buffalo Township’s history
What year was North Buffalo Township founded?
The North Buffalo Township post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does North Buffalo Township rank for history?
North Buffalo Township is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #950 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.
How old are the homes in North Buffalo Township?
11% of North Buffalo Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1972.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.