Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 63% of U.S. towns · #571 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Most of Pennsbury Township was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: maps from 1901 on and the census since 1930.
More historic than 63% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pennsbury Township is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns, #571 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls 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 Pennsbury Township’s 358 sits above most of its state (93% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 139 historic buildings outnumber those of 91% 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.
Six 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).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pennsbury Township’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Pennsbury Township.
The Barns-Brinton House, Brinton-King Farmstead, Fairville Historic District, Peter Harvey House and Barn, William Harvey House, Oakdale, Parkersville Friends Meetinghouse, Pennsbury Inn, William Peters House, and Springdale Farm are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereJoseph Bailey is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pennsbury 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 Pennsbury Township.
Grew from 678 people in 1930 to 3,876 in 2020, 5 times over.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Pennsbury Township’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Pennsbury Township is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns, #571 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.
11 listings: 9 buildings, among them the Barns-Brinton House (listed 1971, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Fairville Historic District and the Twin Bridges Rural Historic District, with 127 contributing buildings. 139 historic buildings in all.
3% of Pennsbury Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (11), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
