Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers
How Tulpehocken Township began
When was Tulpehocken Township founded?
1855
The Tulpehocken Township post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Host (1852), Tulpehocken (1855) and Wintersville (1857), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 2,569 in 19802020 census: 3,415171 years
How historic is Tulpehocken Township?
C+
More historic than 41% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Tulpehocken Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Tulpehocken Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tulpehocken Township is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #851 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tulpehocken 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 Tulpehocken 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 is a Census survey estimate (±7.8 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 Tulpehocken 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 and burying grounds
Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Rehrersburg
1827–today
Host
1852–1941
Mount Aetna
1854–today
Tulpehocken
1855–1943
Wintersville
1857–1905
Denglers
1887–1902
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
HostMount AetnaRehrersburgSun Valley Mobile Home ParkWintersville
15cemeteries and burying grounds inside Tulpehocken Township
Altalaha Lutheran Church NewAltalaha Lutheran Church OldFrantzHarmony Christian FellowshipHostLittle Swatara Church of the BrethrenLivingoodRehrersburg Mennonite ChurchSaint Johns United Church of ChristSwatara Mennonite ChurchTrinity United Church of Christ NewTrinity United Church of Christ OldUnited BrethrenZeiglers / Ziegler's Church of the BrethrenZiegler Family
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Tulpehocken Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Tulpehocken Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Tulpehocken Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Tulpehocken Township is a township in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,274 at the 2010 census. Tulpehocken is a name derived from the Lenape language, meaning "land of the turtles".
Its first post office opened in 1855. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,274 to 3,415 (+4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Tulpehocken Township, 1775 to 1984
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Tulpehocken Township.
1984Harrisburg sheet · 1:100,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Tulpehocken Township.
People over time
Tulpehocken Township, census by census
Between 2,569 and 3,290 people in every census since 1980.
4 censuses, 1980–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Tulpehocken Township’s Wikipedia page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Tulpehocken Township post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Tulpehocken Township rank for history?
Tulpehocken Township is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #851 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.
How old are the homes in Tulpehocken Township?
21% of Tulpehocken Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.8 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1982.
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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
