The story
Read it all →How Pine Grove Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Pine Grove Township.
The Guy C. Irvine House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A−History
History · Pine Grove Township
Pine Grove Township’s post office opened in 1822, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 81% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Guy C. Irvine House. Its Register listing is the Guy C. Irvine House. Below: maps from 1906 on and the census since 2000.
1822first post office
1on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How Pine Grove Township began
When was Pine Grove Township founded?
1822
The Pine Grove Township post office opened in 1822, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Pine Grove (1822), Russellsburgh (1835) and Ackley Station (1878), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 2,712 in 20002020 census: 2,604204 years
How historic is Pine Grove Township?
A−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 81% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Pine Grove Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Pine Grove Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pine Grove Township is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Pine Grove Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1822, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194018.3% of homes (±4.9) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 7.9 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 81%
NewerOlder
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 Pine Grove Township’s 7.9 sits above most of its state (73% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% 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 (±4.9 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Pine Grove Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Pine Grove Township, and 5 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Pine Grove Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19063 editions of the USGS map, 1906 to 1971. Watch Pine Grove Township change.Deep rootsA post office since 1822: 204 years of Pine Grove Township.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Pine Grove
Russellsburgh
Ackley Station
Russell
Akeley
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AkeleyBackup CornersCable HollowGouldtownRussell
Gone or out of use
Ackley Station Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Pine Grove Township
HalePine Grove
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Pine Grove Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pine Grove 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
Pine Grove Township on the map, 1906 to 1971
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pine Grove Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1906Warren 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 Pine Grove Township.
Timeline
Pine Grove Township, 1822 to 1906
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1822Post officeThe Pine Grove post office opens
- 1828Post officeThe Pine Grove post office closes
- 1835Post officeThe Russellsburgh post office opens
- 1844
Born hereGeorge W. Allen is born here - 1878Post officeThe Ackley Station post office opens
- 1882Post officeThe Russellsburgh post office closes
- 20th century
- 1904Post officeThe Ackley Station post office closes
- 1906
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Pine Grove Township, decade by decade
2010
2010
2010
2010
2010On the National Register
1 historic place in Pine Grove Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Guy C. Irvine House
Buildings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Pine Grove Township, census by census
Between 2,599 and 2,712 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Pine Grove Township’s Wikipedia page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Pine Grove Township’s history
What year was Pine Grove Township founded?
The Pine Grove Township post office opened in 1822, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Pine Grove Township rank for history?
Pine Grove Township is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns. 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 Pine Grove Township?
One place: the Guy C. Irvine House (listed 1978).
How old are the homes in Pine Grove Township?
18% of Pine Grove Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.