On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Penn Township is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #861 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Penn Township’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 Penn 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 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 (±6.2 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 Penn Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Brownsdale
1852–1904
Maharg
1871–1902
Renfrew
1884–today
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BrownsdaleMcBrideMehargNixonRenfrewRockdale
Gone or out of use
Nixon SchoolschoolRenfrew Stationlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Penn Township
BrownsdaleRockdale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Penn Township on the map, 1909 to 1969
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Penn Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1909Butler 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 Penn Township.
The story so far
Penn Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Penn Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Penn Township is a township that is located in Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,987 at the time of the 2020 census. The census-designated place of Nixon is in the township.
Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 5,071 in 2010, 4,990 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Penn Township, 1883–1927
Passages that mention Penn Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Butler County, Pennsylvania. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1883Read the page →
Read the text
This little hamlet, consisting of about a dozen houses, is situated aniong the hills of the western part of Penn Township. The place was named for A. M. Brown, Esf[.. of Allegheny County, wlio established a store here in LS-t t. A post office was soon created, and Mr. Brown appointed Postmaster.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Butler County Pennsylvania1927 · page 529Read the page →
Read the text
there were others who came in during the pioneer days who are mentioned in the history of the boroughs of the townships. John Nixon came to this locality from New Jersey in 1812, and afterwards settled in Penn Township, where he was instrumental in having the Harvest Home feast celebrated after the departure of the Harmony Society from this vicinity. John Fleming, the teacher, came in 1815; also Jacob Kelker and Samuel Beam; Thomas H. Harper came in 1820; John Hartzell in 1820; Lewis Ganz and Jacob Dambach in
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
Penn Township, 1852 to 1909
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Penn Township is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #861 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 Penn Township?
17% of Penn Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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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