The story
Read it all →How Perry Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Perry Township.
The Dreibelbis Mill and Jacob Leiby Farm are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B+History
History · Perry Township
21% of Perry Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 75% of U.S. towns · #399 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Dreibelbis Mill. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1980.
1on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Quick answers
About Perry Township’s history
How historic is Perry Township?
B+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 75% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Perry Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Perry Township is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #399 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Perry Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194020.9% of homes (±6.4) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register1 listing, 4.0 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 75%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 62%
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 Perry Township’s 4.0 sits near the middle of its state (64% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±6.4 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 Perry Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Perry Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Perry Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Perry Township on the map, 1909 to 1977
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Perry Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1909Hamburg sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Perry Township.
Timeline
Perry Township, 1862 to 1909
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Perry Township, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1860s–1880s2 items
1890s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your albumDate unknown1 to date
Date?
2013
2013
2013
2013
2011Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Berks County - Perry - ED 6-26, ED 6-72, ED 6-79, ED 6-80, ED 6-…, 1880
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Perry Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
1 historic place in Perry Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1990
Dreibelbis Mill
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Gristmill1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Perry Township, census by census
Between 2,417 and 2,517 people in every census since 1980.
4 censuses, 1980–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Perry Township’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Five Locks
Gone or out of use
West Shore Airportairport
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Perry Township
Birch HillEbenezerSaint LukesZion United Church of Christ
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Richmond Township4 historic placesACentre Township1 historic placeB+Greenwich Township7 historic placesAShoemakersville1 historic placeAVirginville2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTilden TownshipIts storyC−Windsor TownshipIts storyC+Ontelaunee Township3 historic placesB+Maidencreek Township1 historic placeB+
Questions about Perry Township’s history
How does Perry Township rank for history?
Perry Township is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #399 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 Perry Township?
One place: the Dreibelbis Mill (listed 1990).
How old are the homes in Perry Township?
21% of Perry Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.4 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1975.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
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 (7), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.