Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns · #916 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1907 on, and old-book passages.
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Penn Township is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #916 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 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.
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 Penn Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Penn 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 Penn Township.
Another post office, Cove, 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).
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 in Perry County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,100 at the 2020 census.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 3,225 to 3,098 (-4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Penn Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Further references to early settlers will be found in the chapters devoted to the Indians in the early pages of this volume. John Harris had formed a temporary settlement in this vicinity, but it was not in Penn Township. Marcus Hulings had holdings in what is now Penn Township, but the reader will find the history of his early settlements under the chapters devoted to Duncan's and Haldeman's Islands and Watts Township, his place of abode.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Further references to early settlers will be found in the chapters devoted to the Indians in the early pages of this volume. John Harris had formed a temporary settlement in this vicinity, but it was not in Penn Township. Marcus Hulings had holdings in what is now Penn Township, but the reader will find the history of his early settlements under the chapters devoted to Duncan’s and Haldeman’s Islands and Watts Township, his place of abode.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
William Beatty to erect a dam from Sheep Island to the west bank of the Juniata River. This island lies in the Juniata River a short distance above the iron bridge at the north end of Duncannon. An act of March 21, 1868, annexed Wister's Island to Penn Township, detaching it from Dauphin County. It lies in the Susquehanna River, almost opposite Covallen Station. The first bridge over Sherman's Creek, near the Duncannon Iron Company plant, was built in 1832.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
William Beatty to erect a dam from Sheep Island to the west bank of the Juniata River. This island lies in the Juniata River a short distance above the iron bridge at the north end of Duncannon. An act of March 21, 1868, annexed Wister’s Island to Penn Township, detaching it from Dauphin County. It lies in the Susquehanna River, almost opposite Covallen Station. The first bridge over Sherman’s Creek, near the Duncannon Iron Company plant, was built in 1832.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Perry County - ED 50-12, E…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveAppalachian Trail, Juniata River Crossing, Pennsylvania LCCN2011630547 (cropped)
In the archive19960519 07 CR Marysville, PA (5417339544) (2)3 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No 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 Penn Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Penn Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Penn Township is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #916 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.
13% of Penn Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 (6), 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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