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B+History
History · Towanda Township

Towanda Township dates to 1784, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 74% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1830.

1784founded
0on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Towanda Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Towanda Township began

When was Towanda Township founded?

1784

Towanda Township dates its founding to 1784 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1830.

First census: 224 in 18302020 census: 1,036242 years

How historic is Towanda Township?

B+

More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1890.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Towanda Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Towanda Township is more historic than 74% 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 Towanda Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1784, from Wikipedia: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194037.2% of homes (±13.9) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%ANational RegisterNo listings counted · typical PA town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 74%
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 Towanda 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.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1784.
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 (±13.9 points).

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Towanda Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Boom and bustPeaked at 4,663 in 1900; 2,798 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsEstablished in 1784: 242 years of Towanda Township.
★ What stands out · People over time

Towanda Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0001850190019502000Peak: 4,663

Peaked at 4,663 in 1900; 2,798 people lived here in 2020.

20 censuses, 1830–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Towanda Township’s Wikipedia page.

Timeline

Towanda Township, 1784 to 1954

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 18th century
  2. 1784
    FoundingTowanda Township is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1860In the archiveTowanda, Pa. Bradford Co
  5. 1880In the archiveTowanda, Pa. 1880
  6. 1890Post officeThe Overshot post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1900CensusPopulation peaks at 4,663
  9. 1901Post officeThe Overshot post office closes
  10. 1907In the archiveTowanda High School Building
  11. 1923In the archiveTowanda PA 1st Presby PHS602
  12. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Towanda Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Towanda Township.

Read it all →

Towanda was settled in 1784 and became the county seat in 1812. It was variously known for some years

as Meansville, Overton, Williamson, Monmouth, and Towanda, and incorporated in 1828. Towanda was once known primarily for its industrial interests, which included flour, planing and silk mills, a foundry and machine shop, dye works, and manufacturers of talking machines, cut glass, toys and furniture. The population in 1900 was 4,663 and 4,281 in 1910.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Towanda Township, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s–1920s6 items
Towanda, Pa. Bradford Coc. 1860Towanda, Pa. Bradford CoTowanda, Pa. 18801880Towanda, Pa. 1880Towanda, Pa. 18801880Towanda, Pa. 1880Towanda High School Building1907Towanda High School BuildingTowanda PA 1st Presby PHS6021923Towanda PA 1st Presby PHS602Towanda PA Presby PHS6031923Towanda PA Presby PHS603
1930s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
Towanda, Pennsylvania2009Towanda, PennsylvaniaTowanda Main Street2008Towanda Main StreetUS Route 6 - Pennsylvania2007US Route 6 - PennsylvaniaRed Rose Diner2007Red Rose DinerUS Route 6 - Pennsylvania2005US Route 6 - Pennsylvania
On the map

Towanda Township on the map, 1954 to 1981

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Towanda Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Towanda Township on the 1954 USGS mapTowanda Township on the 1960 USGS mapTowanda Township on the 1974 USGS mapTowanda Township on the 1981 USGS map1954Williamsport sheet · 1:250,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Towanda Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Towanda, Pa. Bradford Co
Retake this viewTowanda, Pa. Bradford Co, c. 1860

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Towanda Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Another post office, Overshot, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
OvershotSouth Towanda
1cemetery inside Towanda Township
Cole

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Towanda Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewTowanda, Pa. Bradford Co: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Towanda1 historic placeA+Wysox Township1 historic placeA−North Towanda TownshipIts storyCMonroe TownshipIts storyB+Burlington Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Towanda Township’s history

What year was Towanda Township founded?

In 1784, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Towanda Township’s post office opened in 1890, and the census of 1830 counted 224 people here.

How does Towanda Township rank for history?

Towanda Township is more historic than 74% 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 Towanda Township?

37% of Towanda Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±13.9 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1967.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 (11), Wikipedia, 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.