Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The Robeson Township post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name. Six smaller post offices, Joanna Furnace (1830), Robeson (1837) and Beckersville (1852), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Robeson Township is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #270 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 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 Robeson Township’s 10.5 sits above most of its state (77% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Six 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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how Robeson Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Robeson 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 Robeson Township.
From Wikipedia’s history of Robeson Township.
Robeson Township was named for Andrew Robeson, an early settler.
The Allegheny Aqueduct, Geiger Mill, Joanna Furnace Complex, and Thompson Mill are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Robeson Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Robeson Township had been known as a district before the erection of Lancaster County, in 1 729, whilst its territory was a part of Chester County. At August sessions, 1729, of Lancaster County, the lines of certain townships situated north of the South Mountain, between the Schuylkill and Susquehanna Rivers, were defined, but Robeson was not included. A
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereMary J. Scarlett Dixon is born here
BuiltAllegheny Aqueduct is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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.
Between 4,729 and 7,216 people in every census since 1980.
4 censuses, 1980–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Robeson Township’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Robeson Township post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Robeson Township is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #270 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, 1 historic district, the Joanna Furnace Complex, with 2 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 8 historic buildings in all.
17% of Robeson Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
