The story
Read it all →How Paradise Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Paradise Township.
The Swigart's Mill was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B+History
History · Paradise Township
17% of Paradise Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 66% of U.S. towns · #537 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Swigart's Mill. Below: maps from 1920 on and the census since 1930.
1on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
About Paradise Township’s history
How historic is Paradise Township?
B+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 66% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Paradise Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Paradise Township is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns, #537 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Paradise Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraWithout a firm founding date for Paradise Township, this grade rests on its old homes and Register listings–Homes built before 194016.7% of homes (±7.7) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register1 listing, 2.5 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 66%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 48%
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 Paradise Township’s 2.5 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.7 points).
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 →
What stands out about Paradise 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 Paradise Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Paradise Township, and 5 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19205 editions of the USGS map, 1920 to 1999. Watch Paradise Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Paradise Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Paradise 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
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Farmers
Apple Grove
Bigmount
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Big MountFarmersFordvilleHoltzswamMaple Grove
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Paradise Township
ParadiseParadise Lutheran Church
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Paradise Township on the map, 1920 to 1999
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Paradise Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1920Hanover 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 Paradise Township.
Timeline
Paradise Township, 1832 to 1920
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1832Post officeThe Farmers post office opens
- 1843Post officeThe Apple Grove post office opens
- 1871Post officeThe Apple Grove post office closes
- 1887Post officeThe Bigmount post office opens
- 20th century
- 1907Post officeThe Bigmount post office closes
- 1909Post officeThe Farmers post office closes
- 1920
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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 albumOn the National Register
1 historic place in Paradise Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Swigart's Mill
Buildings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Paradise Township, census by census
Grew from 1,164 people in 1930 to 3,970 in 2020, 3 times over.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Paradise Township’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Paradise Township
Nobody well known was born in Paradise Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
A
Ann RothAmerican costume designer · b. 1931
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Paradise Township’s history
How does Paradise Township rank for history?
Paradise Township is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns, #537 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.
What is on the National Register in Paradise Township?
One place: the Swigart's Mill (listed 1980).
How old are the homes in Paradise Township?
17% of Paradise Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.7 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1982.
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.