Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns · #409 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Most of Schuylkill Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1930.
The Schuylkill Township post office opened in 1826, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Schuylkill (1826), Pickering (1833) and Manavoon (1884), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Schuylkill Township is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #409 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Schuylkill Township’s 11.3 sits above most of its state (78% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 10 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% 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.
Five 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 Schuylkill Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Schuylkill 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 Schuylkill Township.
From Wikipedia’s history of Schuylkill Township.
The Moses Coates Jr. Farm, Gen. Frederick Von Steuben Headquarters, Moore Hall, Matthias Pennypacker Farm, and White Horse Farm 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 hereSarah Dolley is born here
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Chester County - Schuylkill - ED 1…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveMooreHall132264pu2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Schuylkill Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.
★ Landmark
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 1,566 people in 1930 to 8,780 in 2020, 5 times over.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Schuylkill Township’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Schuylkill Township post office opened in 1826, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Schuylkill Township is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #409 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.
5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Von Steuben, Gen. Frederick, Headquarters (a National Historic Landmark since 1972). 10 historic buildings in all.
8% of Schuylkill Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (5), 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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