The story
Read it all →How Shirley Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Shirley Township.
The Runk Bridge and Lewis Smalley Homestead are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A−History
History · Shirley Township
19% of Shirley Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 81% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Lewis Smalley Homestead, the Benjamin B. Leas House and the Runk Bridge. Its Register listings are the Lewis Smalley Homestead, the Benjamin B. Leas House and the Runk Bridge. Below: maps from 1922 on and the census since 2000.
3on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
About Shirley Township’s history
How historic is Shirley Township?
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What drives the grade ↓More historic than 81% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Shirley Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Shirley Township is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Shirley Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194018.5% of homes (±7.7) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register3 listings, 12.4 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 81%
NewerOlder
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 Shirley Township’s 12.4 sits above most of its state (79% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.7 points).
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 →
What stands out about Shirley 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 writtenNo old photos of Shirley Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Shirley Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Old burying grounds19 cemeteries and burying grounds inside Shirley Township.On the map since 19224 editions of the USGS map, 1922 to 1971. Watch Shirley Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Shirley Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Shirley Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Aughwick Mills
Valley Point
Shopes
Otelia
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AdamsAllenportAughwick
Gone or out of use
Gluck SchoolschoolMount Union AirportairportYuling Schoolschool
19cemeteries and burying grounds inside Shirley Township
BarkleyBell's FurnaceBethelDouglasFields FarmGermany ValleyGilboaHaven Rest Memorial ParkHulingMcGarveyNeboOld BaptistOtelia Mennonite ChurchRickettsSaint CatherineShirley HomeShopeSnyderWakefield Chapel
See all 19
Barkley Cemetery · Bell's Furnace Cemetery · Bethel Cemetery · Douglas Cemetery · Fields Farm Cemetery · Germany Valley Cemetery · Gilboa Cemetery · Haven Rest Memorial Park Cemetery · Huling Cemetery · McGarvey Cemetery · Nebo Cemetery · Old Baptist Cemetery · Otelia Mennonite Church Cemetery · Ricketts Cemetery · Saint Catherine Cemetery · Shirley Home Cemetery · Shope Cemetery · Snyder Cemetery · Wakefield Chapel Cemetery
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Shirley Township, 1794 to 1923
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 18th century
- 1794
BuiltLewis Smalley Homestead is built - 19th century
- 1856Post officeThe Aughwick Mills post office opens
- 1875Post officeThe Valley Point post office opens
- 1883Post officeThe Shopes post office opens
- 1884Post officeThe Shopes post office closes
- 20th century
- 1914Post officeThe Aughwick Mills post office closes
- 1922
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1923Post officeThe Valley Point post office closes
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the map
Shirley Township on the map, 1922 to 1971
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Shirley Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1922Mt Union 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 Shirley Township.
On the National Register
3 historic places in Shirley Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Lewis Smalley Homestead
BuildingsStructures
Architectural styles listings
Greek Revival1
Pratt Truss Bridge1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Shirley Township, census by census
Between 2,407 and 2,526 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Shirley Township’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Shirley Township
Nobody well known was born in Shirley Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Cromwell Township1 historic placeB+Wayne TownshipIts storyC+Tell TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMount Union2 historic placesA+AllenportIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townUnion TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBrady TownshipIts storyB−Cass TownshipIts storyBLack TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Questions about Shirley Township’s history
How does Shirley Township rank for history?
Shirley Township is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns. 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 Shirley Township?
Three places: the Lewis Smalley Homestead (listed 1978), the Benjamin B. Leas House (1984) and the Runk Bridge (1990).
How old are the homes in Shirley Township?
19% of Shirley Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.7 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1986.
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).
From the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.