The story
Read it all →How Shippen Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Shippen Township.
The Colton Point State Park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Colton Point State Park · Photo: Ruhrfisch · CC BY-SA 3.0–Not graded
History · Shippen Township
28% of Shippen Township’s homes were built before 1940
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 7 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 2000.
1on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
What stands out about Shippen Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Shippen Township, and 4 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19003 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1969. Watch Shippen Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Shippen Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Shippen Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Ansonia
Marsh Creek
Asaph
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AnsoniaAsaphMarsh CreekOwassee
1cemetery inside Shippen Township
Ansonia
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Shippen Township on the map, 1900 to 1969
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Shippen Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1900Elkland sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Shippen Township.
Timeline
Shippen Township, 1870 to 1938
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1870Post officeThe Ansonia post office opens
- 1879Post officeThe Marsh Creek post office opens
- 1889Post officeThe Asaph post office opens
- 20th century
- 1900
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1908
In the archiveAsaph Mill - 1908Post officeThe Marsh Creek post office closes
- 1934Post officeThe Ansonia post office closes
- 1938Post officeThe Asaph post office closes
By decade
Shippen Township, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1900s1 item
1910s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
2016
2009
2009
2008
2005Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewAsaph Mill, 1908
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Shippen Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
1 listing protects 7 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
7
each building in a district counts
first listed
1987
Colton Point State Park
Districts
Architectural styles listings
Rustic1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Shippen Township, census by census
Between 472 and 527 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Shippen Township’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Shippen Township
Nobody well known was born in Shippen Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
C
Charles Franklin PhillipsAmerican economist · b. 1910D
Dick RiffleAmerican football player · b. 1915Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Shippen Township’s history
What is on the National Register in Shippen Township?
One place: the Colton Point State Park (listed 1987).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.