The Spring Township post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Spring (1832), Rundell (1850) and Hickernell (1883), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,571 in 20002020 census: 1,402194 years
How historic is Spring Township?
B+
More historic than 70% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Spring Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Spring Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Spring Township is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Spring 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 Spring 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 B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.7 points). 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 Spring Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Spring Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1900Girard 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 Spring Township.
The story so far
Spring Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Spring Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Spring Township is a township in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,409 at the 2020 census, down from 1,548 at the 2010 census.
Its first post office opened in 1832. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,548 to 1,402 (-9%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Spring Township in 1885
Passages that mention Spring Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Crawford County, Pennsylvania1885 · page 1045Read the page →
Read the text
Erie County, and farm just outside. He then bought fifty-four acres and gave to Azel; then bought sixty-five acres in Beaver Township, and seventy acres in Spring; after this gave Murray the sixty-five in Beaver. After selling the old farm in Spring Township, he bought 380 acres in Bedford County, Iowa, sold that and bought 106 acres at Conneaut Center, Crawford County. He helped build the schoolhouses in Spring, Beaver and Conneaut Townships, and Conneautville. He and his brother bought a farm of 100 acres at Summit Station, fifty of timber, and another farm of fifty acres, all in Conneaut Township.
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
Spring Township, 1832 to 1905
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Spring Township post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Spring Township rank for history?
Spring Township is more historic than 70% 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 Spring Township?
30% of Spring Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 Wikimedia Commons (6), 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.
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