Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1826.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Upper Dublin Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Upper Dublin Township is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #374 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Upper Dublin 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 Upper Dublin Township’s 0.4 sits near the middle of its state (51% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1698.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share (±2.0 points) is firm at this size.
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 Upper Dublin 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, places now gone and burying grounds
Eight other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Upper Dublin
1826–1883
Dreshertown
1832–1908
Fitzwatertown
1853–1907
Three Tons
1854–1876
Jarrettown
1866–1971
Three Tuns
1876–1918
Fort Washington
1878–today
Dresher
1908–1972
North Glenside
1914–1931
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
DawesfieldDresherDresher WoodsDublin ChaseDublin CrossingDublin EstatesDublin GlenDublin Hunt IIDublin LeaDublin MeadowsEstate of DublinFitzwatertownFort WashingtonGeorgetown of PhiladelphiaJarrettownMeadow View EstatesMeadows at Lower GwyneddOrelandPheasant KnollRose ValleyStuart Creek FarmsTannerie WoodsThe WoodsThree Tuns
Gone or out of use
Three Tuns Junior High Schoolschool
11cemeteries and burying grounds inside Upper Dublin Township
Ambler Church of the BrethrenChrist's Lutheran Church Columbarium and MemorialDreshertownFairviewFitzwaterJarrettown United Methodist ChurchRose HillRose ValleyUpper Dublin FriendsUpper Dublin Lutheran ChurchWhitcomb Family
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Upper Dublin Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Upper Dublin Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Upper Dublin Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1893Germantown 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 Upper Dublin Township.
The story
How Upper Dublin Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Upper Dublin Township.
Edward Tanner was granted land by William Penn in the Province of Pennsylvania and named it "Upper and Lower Dublin." Lower Dublin was incorporated into the City of Philadelphia following the passage of the Act of Consolidation in 1854. The "upper" portion has continued to exist around the original survey for the laying out and naming of Susquehanna Road. Upper Dublin Township was established in 1701, when William Penn ordered a survey of all townships in the Commonwealth. It was first settled in 1698, and incorporated in 1719. The township was granted its current status of First Class Township in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on January 1, 1946. Originally the area started as a farming community with additional activity in the mining of limestone. Limekiln Pike today continues to be an important travel artery.
In 1698, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Upper Dublin Township’s post office opened in 1826, and the census of 1800 counted 744 people here.
How does Upper Dublin Township rank for history?
Upper Dublin Township is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #374 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.
What is on the National Register in Upper Dublin Township?
One place: the Quaker Manor House (listed 1976).
How old are the homes in Upper Dublin Township?
11% of Upper Dublin Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1971.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
