Sellersville dates to 1738, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns · #134 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Teller Cigar Factory and the Otto Eisenlohr and Bros Cigar Factory. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1815.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Sellersville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sellersville is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #134 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Sellersville’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 Sellersville’s 4.4 sits above most of its state (66% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1738.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.2 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Sellersville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Sellersville was founded in the early 18th century. It was centered on a major road known as Bethlehem Pike that connected Philadelphia to Bethlehem and the rest of what was then Western Pennsylvania. The town was very small and was called Sellers Tavern. Its most notable feature was a large inn. The present Washington House in Sellersville, however, was not Sellers Tavern. The town grew slowly over the years until the Industrial Revolution.
Passages that mention Sellersville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Bucks County, Pennsylvania1876 · page 533Read the page →
Read the text
The three villages that lay entirely in Rockliill township, are Sellersville, Bridgetown, and Perkasie, the first and last named being on the North Pennsylvania railroad. As we have already related, Sellersville grew up around what was for many years known as Sellers' Tavern, which name the post-office bore down to 1866, when it took that of the village. The office was first established there in 1820, and Thomas Sellers appointed the first postmaster. It has grown into a flourishing village, its improvements
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Bucks County, Pennsylvania1876 · page 379Read the page →
Read the text
was opened from Charles Morris's, by Perkasie school-house, to the Old Bethlehem road. About the same time a road was opened from Thomas Morris's to that from Sellersville to Whitehallville, which led via what is now Doylestown to Newtown, then the county scat. The road from the Swamp road to the Hilltown Baptist church was laid out in 1766. At that day the Swamp road was a much traveled highway to the lower part of the county. The two Bethlehem roads, known as the Old and the New, which run through Hilltown, were
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.
By decade
Sellersville, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
In 1738, according to Wikidata. Sellersville’s post office opened in 1815, and the census of 1880 counted 490 people here.
How does Sellersville rank for history?
Sellersville is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #134 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.
What is on the National Register in Sellersville?
Two places: the Teller Cigar Factory (listed 1987) and the Otto Eisenlohr and Bros Cigar Factory (2024).
How old are the homes in Sellersville?
31% of Sellersville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.2 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1972.
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), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
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1894
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