The story
Read it all →How Spring Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Spring Township.
The Gross Covered Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A−History
History · Spring Township
27% of Spring Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Gross Bridge. Below: maps from 1965 on.
1on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
About Spring Township’s history
How historic is Spring Township?
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What drives the grade ↓More historic than 84% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
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 84% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Spring Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194027.3% of homes (±5.4) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register1 listing, 6.5 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 84%
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 Spring Township’s 6.5 sits above most of its state (71% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±5.4 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 Spring Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Spring Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Spring 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
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Middle Creek
Beaver Springs
Benfer
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Beaver SpringsBenferMiddle Creek
Gone or out of use
Beaver Springs Airportairport
1cemetery inside Spring Township
Adamsburg
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Spring Township, 1838 to 1982
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1838Post officeThe Middle Creek post office opens
- 1850Post officeThe Beaver Springs post office opens
- 1899Post officeThe Benfer post office opens
- 20th century
- 1939Post officeThe Benfer post office closes
- 1965
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1982Post officeThe Middle Creek post office closes
By decade
Spring Township, decade by decade
2024On the map
Spring Township on the map, 1965 to 1973
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Spring Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1965Beavertown sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Spring Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Spring Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
Gross Bridge
Structures
Architectural styles listings
Timber Burr Arch1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Spring Township
Nobody well known was born in Spring 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.
Questions about Spring Township’s history
How does Spring Township rank for history?
Spring Township is more historic than 84% 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 Spring Township?
One place: the Gross Bridge (listed 1977).
How old are the homes in Spring Township?
27% of Spring Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.