Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Shuvaev · CC BY-SA 3.0More historic than 82% of U.S. towns · #291 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 21 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 1980.
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, South Heidelberg Township is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #291 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 South Heidelberg Township’s 26.9 sits above most of its state (84% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 21 historic buildings outnumber those of 80% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 South Heidelberg Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of South Heidelberg 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 South Heidelberg Township.
From Wikipedia’s history of South Heidelberg Township.
The Grand View Dairy Farm was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 3,355 people in 1980 to 7,271 in 2010.
4 censuses, 1980–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on South Heidelberg Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in South Heidelberg Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
South Heidelberg Township is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #291 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.
Two places: the Grand View Dairy Farm (listed 1992) and the Knorr-Bare Farm (1992).
15% of South Heidelberg Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.4 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
