Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Most of South Shenango Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: maps from 1906 on and the census since 2000.
Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers
How South Shenango Township began
When was South Shenango Township founded?
1833
The South Shenango Township post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, South Shenango (1833), Marshall's Corners (1854) and Westford (1882), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 2,047 in 20002020 census: 1,831193 years
How historic is South Shenango Township?
B−
More historic than 47% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first South Shenango Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives South Shenango Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, South Shenango Township is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of South Shenango Township’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 South Shenango Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B. The pre-1940 share (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 South Shenango Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
South Shenango
1833–1865
Marshall's Corners
1854–1868
Westford
1882–1964
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Westford
Gone or out of use
Center Schoolschool
1cemetery inside South Shenango Township
South Shenango
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
South Shenango Township on the map, 1906 to 1990
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of South Shenango Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1906Linesville sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of South Shenango Township.
The story so far
South Shenango Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of South Shenango Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
South Shenango Township is a township in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,831 at the 2020 census, down from 2,037 at the 2010 census.
Its first post office opened in 1833. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,037 to 1,831 (-10%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about South Shenango Township in 1885
Passages that mention South Shenango Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
history of crawford county, pennsylvania1885 · page 693Read the page →
Read the text
OX the petition of citizens of South Shenango Township to the Court of Quarter Sessions to divide the township, James Espy was appointed Surveyor and Eliphalet Allen and R. 8. McKay, Viewers; they reported favorably April 2, 1863, with a slight alteration of the boundaries, and the report was approved and confirmed by the court August 14, 1868. An election in and for the new township to be caJled West Shenango was ordered to be heldin the Turnersville Schoolhouse, and John Custard and Francis Royal were appointed Inspectors and Samuel Kellogg Judge of the first election. The
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Crawford County, Pennsylvania1885 · page 1184Read the page →
Read the text
The line dividing Crawford and Mercer Counties originally passed nearly central through the village of Jamestown, Penn. That portion of South Shenango Township, Crawford County, by legislative action, was set over to the boro of Jamestown, and merged under the jurisdiction of Mercer County.
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.
Timeline
South Shenango Township, 1833 to 1964
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The South Shenango Township post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does South Shenango Township rank for history?
South Shenango Township is more historic than 47% 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.
How old are the homes in South Shenango Township?
9% of South Shenango Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 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 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.
