On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Orwigsburg is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #447 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. 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 Orwigsburg’s overall grade.
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 Orwigsburg’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 (±7.6 points). Two sources give 1796.
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 →
What stands out about Orwigsburg’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Orwigsburg yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Orwigsburg is a borough in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. The borough was named for its founder, Peter Orwig, in 1796. Orwigsburg was the original county seat until the seat was moved to Pottsville in 1851. The population was 3,002 at the time of the 2020 census.
Orwigsburg was established in 1796. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 3,099 to 3,000 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Orwigsburg, 1906–1916
Passages that mention Orwigsburg, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Blue book of Schuylkill County1916 · page 136Read the page →
Read the text
He died November 11, 1792, aged 76 years and is buried at Morgantown, which was named for him and which he laid out in 1770. (Colonel Jacob Morgan was the great grandfather of the Misses Douglass, of Orwigsburg, and the great great grandfather of George, Frank and Clement Roseberry, of Pottsville. Miss Holt, teacher in the public schools, Pottsville, and others are also descendants.)
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Pink lemonade was on sale and beer was plenty. A wellknown Court-house official from Pottsville. who formerly lived in Orwigsburg, Avas heard to remark that, ''you could make money by remaining in Orwigsburg over night, as the beer was two cents cheaper than in Pottsville and the mugs half again as large." The interest, too, in the ''Frolic" at the Hotels, which would close the day's festivities, was never greater.
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.
By decade
Orwigsburg, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
In 1796, according to Wikidata. Orwigsburg’s post office opened in 1809, and the census of 1830 counted 773 people here.
How does Orwigsburg rank for history?
Orwigsburg is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #447 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 Orwigsburg?
33% of Orwigsburg’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.6 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1960.
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 (14), 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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