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B+History
History · Orwell Township

Orwell Township’s post office opened in 1815, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 68% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1923 on.

1815first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Orwell Township began

When was Orwell Township founded?

1815

The Orwell Township post office opened in 1815, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Orwell (1815), North Orwell (1833) and South Hill (1837), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 1,186211 years

How historic is Orwell Township?

B+

More historic than 68% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Orwell Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Orwell Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Orwell Township is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Orwell Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1815, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194027.4% of homes (±6.1) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%A−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 68%
NewerOlder

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 Orwell 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 B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.1 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 Orwell Township’s past

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

Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Orwell Township, and 8 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Orwell Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1815: 211 years of Orwell Township.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

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

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

Orwell
1815–1957
North Orwell
1833–1904
South Hill
1837–1904
Potterville
1852–1940
Allis Hollow
1868–1904
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Allis HollowNorth OrwellOrwellPottervilleRussellvilleSouth HillWells HollowZion Heights
Gone or out of use
Ransom SchoolschoolTyrrel Schoolschool
8cemeteries and burying grounds inside Orwell Township
Allis HollowDarlingJillsonNorth OrwellOrwellOrwell ValleyRoswell Russell FarmSouth Hill

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

Help out

Start Orwell Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Orwell Township, 1815 to 1957

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1815Post officeThe Orwell post office opens
  3. 1833Post officeThe North Orwell post office opens
  4. 1837Post officeThe South Hill post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1904Post officeThe North Orwell post office closes
  7. 1904Post officeThe South Hill post office closes
  8. 1923On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1957Post officeThe Orwell post office closes
The story so far

Orwell Township, in brief

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

Orwell Township is a township in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The population was 1,184 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1815. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,159 to 1,186 (+2%).

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

By decade

Orwell Township, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Pennsylvania State Route 1872012Pennsylvania State Route 187PA 467 eb past Gulf Road2009PA 467 eb past Gulf RoadPA 467 eb at Gulf Road2009PA 467 eb at Gulf RoadUntitled photo2007Untitled photo
On the map

Orwell Township on the map, 1923 to 1943

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

Orwell Township on the 1923 USGS mapOrwell Township on the 1943 USGS map1923Towanda sheet · 1:62,500

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Orwell Township

Nobody well known was born in Orwell Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Gregory La CavaAmerican film director · b. 1892
Andrew James Louis BrennanAmerican prelate of the Roman Catholic Church · b. 1877
Joshua Reed GiddingsAmerican politician · b. 1795
Ada BittenbenderAmerican lawyer, feminist activist · b. 1848
Elise MercurAmerican architect · b. 1864
H. T. Lowe-PorterAmerican translator · b. 1876
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Warren TownshipIts storyBRome TownshipIts storyB−Pike TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWindham TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Orwell Township’s history

What year was Orwell Township founded?

The Orwell Township post office opened in 1815, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Orwell Township rank for history?

Orwell Township is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns. 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 Orwell Township?

27% of Orwell Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1980.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (4), 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.