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BHistory
History · Upper Tyrone Township

27% of Upper Tyrone Township’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 55% of U.S. towns. What drives it

0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Generic1139 · CC BY 3.0
Quick answers

About Upper Tyrone Township’s history

How historic is Upper Tyrone Township?

B

More historic than 55% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Upper Tyrone Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Upper Tyrone Township is more historic than 55% 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 Upper Tyrone Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194027.0% of homes (±6.7) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%A−National 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 55%
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 Upper Tyrone 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 (±6.7 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 Tyrone Township’s past

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

Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Upper Tyrone Township, and 9 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Upper Tyrone Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Broad Ford
1861–1956
Fountain Mills
1871–1873
Owensdale
1881–1940
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Broad FordDry HillKeifertownKingviewMcClureMorganOwensdalePrittstownWalnut Hill
Gone or out of use
Penn Line Service Airportairport
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Upper Tyrone Township
Pennsville MennoniteSaint Josef's Polish Catholic

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

Help out

Start Upper Tyrone Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Upper Tyrone Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Upper Tyrone Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Upper Tyrone Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Upper Tyrone Township is a township that is located in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,768 at the time of the 2020 census. It is served by the Southmoreland School District. Communities in the township include Keifertown, King View, Owensdale, McClure, Dry Hill, Walnut Hill, and part of Prittstown. The township is named after County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,059 to 1,773 (-14%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Upper Tyrone Township, 1852 to 1956

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1852Born hereAbraham Lincoln Keister is born here
  3. 1861Post officeThe Broad Ford post office opens
  4. 1871Post officeThe Fountain Mills post office opens
  5. 1873Post officeThe Fountain Mills post office closes
  6. 1881Post officeThe Owensdale post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1940Post officeThe Owensdale post office closes
  9. 1956Post officeThe Broad Ford post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Stories next door

History across the town line

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

East Huntingdon Township1 historic placeA−EversonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBullskin Township2 historic placesB+Scottdale2 historic placesAConnellsville TownshipIts storyBLower Tyrone Township1 historic placeADunbar Township1 historic placeB

Questions about Upper Tyrone Township’s history

How does Upper Tyrone Township rank for history?

Upper Tyrone Township is more historic than 55% 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 Tyrone Township?

27% of Upper Tyrone Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1968.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.