Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns · #139 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 93 buildings between them. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1980.
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Richmond Township is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #139 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Richmond Township’s 276 sits above most of its state (92% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 101 historic buildings outnumber those of 89% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Richmond Township’s history is told.
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Richmond Township.
The Joel Dreibelbis Farm, Merkel Mill Complex, Moselem Farms Mill, Christian Schlegel Farm, and Virginville Historic District are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereJohn Hoover Rothermel is born here
In the archiveTownship map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, from actual surveys
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Berks County - Richmond - ED 6-74
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Richmond Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Richmond Township.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Richmond Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 3,204 and 3,500 people in every census since 1980.
4 censuses, 1980–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Richmond Township’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Richmond Township is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #139 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.
4 listings: 2 buildings and 2 historic districts, the Joel Dreibelbis Farm and the Virginville Historic District, with 93 contributing buildings. 101 historic buildings in all.
21% of Richmond Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1978.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), Wikidata (1), 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) 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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