On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Penbrook is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns, #710 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 Penbrook’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 Penbrook’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.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1861.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.3 points).
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 Penbrook’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Penbrook. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1892Harrisburg 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 Penbrook.
The story so far
Penbrook, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Penbrook yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Penbrook is a borough in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States, founded in 1861 and incorporated July 10, 1894. Penbrook was once named East Harrisburg and still maintains a Harrisburg postal ZIP code. The population was 3,268 at the 2020 census. Penbrook is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area.
Penbrook was established in 1861. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,008 to 3,274 (+9%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Penbrook in 1907
Passages that mention Penbrook, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania1907 · page 83Read the page →
Read the text
Penbrook is a modern suburb of Harrisburg. Hershey, in Derry township, about one-quarter of a mile from Derry Post Office, is on the line of the Philadelphia & Reading Railway, and was platted in 1904-5. It is being rapidly built up by the interests of the great Hershey Chocolate Works which were moved from Lancaster in the spring of 1905.
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.
Timeline
Penbrook, 1861 to 1920
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1861, according to Wikidata. Penbrook’s post office opened in 1888, and the census of 1900 counted 864 people here.
How does Penbrook rank for history?
Penbrook is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns, #710 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 Penbrook?
38% of Penbrook’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.3 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1952.
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 (6), 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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