The story
Read it all →How Union Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Union Township.
The St. Paul's Union Church and Cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
AHistory
History · Union Township
31% of Union Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 88% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the St. Paul's Union Church and Cemetery. Below: 6 old photos and papers and maps from 1947 on.
1on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Quick answers
About Union Township’s history
How historic is Union Township?
A
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 88% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Union Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Union Township is more historic than 88% 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.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Union Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194031.0% of homes (±9.0) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register1 listing, 9.2 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 88%
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 Union Township’s 9.2 sits above most of its state (76% 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 (±9.0 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 →
Timeline
Union Township, 1842 to 1947
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1842
BuiltSt. Paul's Union Church and Cemetery is built - 1880
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Schuylkill County - Union - ED 54-… - 20th century
- 1940
In the archivePortrait of William Giles, miner-farmer of Union Township, Pennsylvania - 1947
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Union Township, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1890s–1930snothing 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 album1940s5 items
1940
1940
1940
19401950s–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 albumOn the map
Union Township on the map, 1947 to 1976
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Union Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1947Ashland 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 Union 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.
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Schuylkill County - Union - ED 54-175, 1880
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Union Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
1 historic place in Union 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
1995
St. Paul's Union Church and Cemetery
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Early 19th-Century1
Federal1
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 Union Township
Nobody well known was born in Union Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
J
Janet AsimovAuthor, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst · b. 1926
F
Francis BrennanCatholic cardinal · b. 1894Places that used to be
Old corners and burying grounds
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Hamlets and corners on the map
FerndaleKrebsPattersonville
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Union Township
HetheringtonSaint Paul's Union Church
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Finish Union 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
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Union Township’s history
How does Union Township rank for history?
Union Township is more historic than 88% 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 Union Township?
One place: the St. Paul's Union Church and Cemetery (listed 1995).
How old are the homes in Union Township?
31% of Union Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1975.
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), the Library of Congress (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.