The Richland post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1906. Another post office, Richland Station (1858), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,496123 years
How historic is Richland?
C+
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Richland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1906.
History grade
What drives Richland’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Richland is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Richland’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 Richland’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1906 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Richland’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Richland yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Richland is a borough in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Lebanon County, Pennsylvania metropolitan statistical area. The population was 1,490 at the 2020 census. Richland has an active railroad crossing that intersects the town square. The two streets that comprise the square, Main Street and Race Street, are the only streets linking the northern and southern portions of the borough. As a result, the crossing can divide the entire town. This quirk has earned Richland mentions in Ripley's Believe It or Not! books and on the televised game show, Jeopardy!.
Its first post office opened in 1903. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,519 in 2010, 1,496 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Richland, 1858 to 1913
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.
The Richland post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1906.
How does Richland rank for history?
Richland is more historic than 38% 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.
How old are the homes in Richland?
39% of Richland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.6 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1954.
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 (4), 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.
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