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–Not graded
History · Valley Township

20% of Valley Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1901 on.

0on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Nyttend · Public domain

What stands out about Valley Township’s past

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

Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Valley Township, and 4 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Valley Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19014 editions of the USGS map, 1901 to 1993. Watch Valley Township change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

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

Oscar
1861–1886
West Valley
1861–1901
Greendale
1867–1905
Pine Creek Furnace
1872–1882
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
GreendaleOscarPine FurnaceWest Valley
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Valley Township
Mount Union DavisPine Creek Methodist

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

Help out

Start Valley Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Valley 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
On the map

Valley Township on the map, 1901 to 1993

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Valley Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Valley Township on the 1901 USGS mapValley Township on the 1968 USGS mapValley Township on the 1973 USGS mapValley Township on the 1993 USGS map1901Rural Valley 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 Valley Township.

The story

How Valley Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Valley Township.

Read it all →

Valley Township was formed in 1855, following the petition of residents requesting that Pine Township be split in two pieces. It was originally proposed that it be named Buffington Township after a local judge, but he declined, and suggested naming it for any living person be avoided. It was named instead for the valley of the Cowanshannock Creek.

A post office called Oscar was established on July 25, 1861, with Francis Martin as its postmaster. It remained in operation until 1886.

ChaptersCemeteries

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Valley Township, 1861 to 1905

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1861Post officeThe Oscar post office opens
  3. 1861Post officeThe West Valley post office opens
  4. 1867Post officeThe Greendale post office opens
  5. 1886Post officeThe Oscar post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1901Post officeThe West Valley post office closes
  8. 1901On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1905Post officeThe Greendale 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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Famous people

Famous people close to Valley Township

Nobody well known was born in Valley Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
M
Mary BeckAmerican politician · b. 1908
Jason NolfAmerican wrestler · b. 1996
J
John F. HunterAmerican politician · b. 1896
Mike GoliatAmerican baseball player · b. 1921
Raymond HarveyUnited States Army Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1920
R
Red MihalikAmerican basketball player · b. 1916
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Boggs TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCowanshannock TownshipIts storyBRayburn TownshipIts storyB−

Questions about Valley Township’s history

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

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.