Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 23% of U.S. towns · #986 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Most of Oxford Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 2000.
More historic than 23% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oxford Township is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns, #986 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Oxford 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.
Founding year: our sources. 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Oxford Township’s history is told.
Two other post offices 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).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Oxford Township. 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 Oxford Township.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Oxford Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Oxford Township is a township in Adams County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,517 at the 2010 census, up from 4,876 at the 2000 census.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 5,517 to 5,936 (+8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveCenter Restaurant and Bus Terminal
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveJohn H. Ware house2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2024US 30 eb in Oxford Twp., Adams Co., PA, May 2024
2019Grain elevator and railroad hopper cars
2019The workdays of this Pennsylvania Scenic Railway cabo…
2019A bank building, so repurposed that its original name…
2019Scene at the Oxford Farmers Market and Antiques store
2019Scene at the Oxford Farmers Market and Antiques store
2019Sign for the Miss Oxford Diner
2019The old Oxford Hotel
2019The Oxford Presbyterian Church
2013Johns burnt mill bridge from upstream
2013Johns burnt mill bridge from downstreamNo 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 Oxford Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 4,876 and 5,936 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Oxford Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Oxford Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Oxford Township is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns, #986 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.
8% of Oxford Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1993.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (12), 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.
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