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History · Norwich Township

Norwich Township dates to 1815, and 41% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1948 on, and the census since 2000.

1815founded
0on the National Register
41%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Norwich Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Norwich Township began

When was Norwich Township founded?

1815

Norwich Township dates its founding to 1815 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 2000.

First census: 633 in 20002020 census: 501211 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1828.

What stands out about Norwich Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Norwich Township, and 6 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Norwich Township’s homes were built before 1951.Deep rootsEstablished in 1815: 211 years of Norwich Township.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Norwich
1828–1920
Colegrove
1862–1959
Gardeau
1888–1915
Crosby
1909–today
Betula
1913–1953
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BetulaColegroveCrosbyGardeauHamlin StationNorwich
Gone or out of use
Colegrove Gas and Oil Fieldoilfield
1cemetery inside Norwich Township
Norwich

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Norwich Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Norwich Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHulls Store, Wellington La Valley: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Norwich Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Norwich Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Norwich Township is a township in McKean County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 505 at the time of the 2020 census.

Norwich Township was established in 1815. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 583 to 501 (-14%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Norwich Township, 1815 to 1959

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1815
    FoundingNorwich Township is established
  3. 1828Post officeThe Norwich post office opens
  4. 1862Post officeThe Colegrove post office opens
  5. 1888Post officeThe Gardeau post office opens
  6. 1898Born hereLeonard Bahan is born here
  7. 20th century
  8. 1914In the archiveHulls Store, Wellington La Valley
  9. 1915Post officeThe Gardeau post office closes
  10. 1920Post officeThe Norwich post office closes
  11. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 1959Post officeThe Colegrove post office closes
By decade

Norwich Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Hulls Store, Wellington La Valley1914Hulls Store, Wellington La Valley
1920s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
On the map

Norwich Township on the map, 1948 to 1971

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Norwich Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Norwich Township on the 1948 USGS mapNorwich Township on the 1950 USGS mapNorwich Township on the 1971 USGS map1948Norwich sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Norwich Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Hulls Store, Wellington La Valley
Retake this viewHulls Store, Wellington La Valley, 1914

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Norwich Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Norwich Township, census by census

010020030040050060070020002020Peak: 633

Between 505 and 633 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Norwich Township’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Liberty Township1 historic placeASergeant TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townShippen TownshipIts storyC−Keating TownshipIts storyB+

Questions about Norwich Township’s history

What year was Norwich Township founded?

In 1815, according to Wikidata. Norwich Township’s post office opened in 1828, and the census of 2000 counted 633 people here.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (1), 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.