Perkasie dates to 1870, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns · #347 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 63 buildings. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1871.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Perkasie’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Perkasie is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #347 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Perkasie’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 Perkasie’s 70.5 sits above most of its state (87% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 65 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.7 points). Two sources give 1870.
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 Perkasie’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Both the town of Perkasie and Pocasie Creek derive their name from the Lenape Unami phrase Pèhpahkàsink/Poekskossing, which translates to "One who goes to the place to crack nuts". The Dutch/Swedish (before the British settlements) pronounced the word with an r and it stuck. There was doubtless a village on the site of the present town before William Penn’s Perkasie Manor was settled." "The "Manor" of Perkasie was one of several in Bucks County and contained 11,462 acres (4,639 ha). Laid out and surveyed in 1708, it embraced most of Hilltown and Rockhill Township."
Passages that mention Perkasie, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Bucks County, Pennsylvania1876 · page 530Read the page →
Read the text
The Proprietary's manor of Perkasie, containing ten thousand acres, partly in Rockhill township, was surveyed and laid out prior to 1708. A section of the township is still called Perkasie, and a flourishing village of this name has grown up within a few years on the upper part of the manor. The manor lands were opened to purchase and settlement about 1735. About this time Jacob Stout, a German immigrant, came into the township and purchased a tract of land in the manor, covering the site of the village of Perkasie.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time1905 · page 587Read the page →
Read the text
where they conducted a general store under the firm name of Kulp Brothers, for eight years. In 1899 they sold out to John Swartley, and, removing to Perkasie, opened their present store, the largest of its kind in Perkasie, and are doing a fine business.
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
Perkasie, 1870 to 1987
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
In 1870, according to Wikidata. Perkasie’s post office opened in 1871, and the census of 1880 counted 300 people here.
How does Perkasie rank for history?
Perkasie is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #347 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 Perkasie?
4 listings: 2 buildings, 1 historic district, the Perkasie Park Camp Meeting, with 63 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 65 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Perkasie?
24% of Perkasie’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
1894
c. 1907
2015
2015
2015
2014
2014