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History · Polk Township

12% of Polk Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1940 on, and the census since 1860.

0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Polk Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

Where Polk Township’s name came from

How did Polk Township get its name?

Polk Township was named for President James K. Polk.

Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

What stands out about Polk Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Polk Township, and 5 old place names are still on the map.Boom and bustPeaked at 653 in 1900; 287 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Polk Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Polk Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewPolk State School & Hospital, Main Stre…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Schoffners Corners
1859–1913
Menderf
1885–1886
Munderf
1886–1933
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BlowtownDixon CornerGreen BriarMunderfSchoffner Corner
1cemetery inside Polk Township
Munderf

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

People over time

Polk Township, census by census

0100200300400500600700190019502000Peak: 653

Peaked at 653 in 1900; 287 people lived here in 2020.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Polk Township’s Wikipedia page.

The story so far

Polk Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Polk Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Polk Township is a township in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 287 at the 2020 census. It was named for President James K. Polk.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 265 to 284 (+7%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Polk Township, 1859 to 1940

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1859Post officeThe Schoffners Corners post office opens
  3. 1885Post officeThe Menderf post office opens
  4. 1886Post officeThe Menderf post office closes
  5. 1886Post officeThe Munderf post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1900CensusPopulation peaks at 653
  8. 1913Post officeThe Schoffners Corners post office closes
  9. 1933Post officeThe Munderf post office closes
  10. 1940On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Polk Township, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Polk State School & Hospital, Main Street at School DriveDate?Polk State School & Hospital, Main Street at School D…
On the map

Polk Township on the map, 1940 to 1969

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Polk Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Polk Township on the 1940 USGS mapPolk Township on the 1969 USGS map1940Hallton sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Polk Township.

Then & 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.

Polk State School & Hospital, Main Street at School Drive
Retake this viewPolk State School & Hospital, Main Street at School Drive

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Polk Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Polk Township

Nobody well known was born in Polk Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Katherine MayoAmerican historian · b. 1867
J
Joan ChittisterRoman Catholic nun, activist, writer and academ… · b. 1936
Charles H. MacDonaldAmerican flying ace · b. 1914
Sparky LyleAmerican baseball player · b. 1944
Albert C. ThompsonLawyer, judge and politician · b. 1842
D
DeVeren BookwalterAmerican actor · b. 1939
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Warsaw TownshipIts storyBHeath Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSnyder Township1 historic placeB+

Questions about Polk Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (1), 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.