Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 2000.
The Silverdale post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1896. Another post office, Lawndale (1881), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Silverdale’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Silverdale. 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 Silverdale.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Silverdale yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Silverdale is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Silverdale had a population of 805.
Its first post office opened in 1890. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 871 to 805 (-8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Bucks County - ED 9-75A, E…
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Bucks County - Hilltown - ED 9-40,…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1880s. 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 Silverdale’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 805 and 1,001 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Silverdale’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Silverdale itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Silverdale’s post office has been open since 1890. Another post office, Lawndale, 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 Silverdale post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1896.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), 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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