What drives Upper Turkeyfoot Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Upper Turkeyfoot Township is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Upper Turkeyfoot 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 Turkeyfoot 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 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 (±5.5 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 Upper Turkeyfoot Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Upper Turkeyfoot Township on the map, 1922 to 1994
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Upper Turkeyfoot Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1922Confluence 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 Turkeyfoot Township.
The story
How Upper Turkeyfoot Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Upper Turkeyfoot Township.
Turkeyfoot Township was formed from part of Brothersvalley Township in 1773, when both were still part of a larger Bedford County; Somerset County was not formed from the western portion of Bedford County until 1795. Just as new counties were split off from earlier counties, new townships were split off from earlier townships, and the townships of Upper Turkeyfoot and Lower Turkeyfoot took their current shapes in 1848.
White settlers arrived in the Turkeyfoot area by the late 1760s, and a group of about 15-20 Baptist families came to the area from New Jersey circa 1774. John Drury had a school near Kingwood in 1812, and William Kilpatrick taught at a private home in Paddytown in 1815.
Questions about Upper Turkeyfoot Township’s history
How does Upper Turkeyfoot Township rank for history?
Upper Turkeyfoot Township is more historic than 64% 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 Upper Turkeyfoot Township?
36% of Upper Turkeyfoot Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 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.
