Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Venango Township is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Venango Township’s 13.1 sits above most of its state (80% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Venango Township’s history is told.
Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Venango Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Venango Township.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Venango Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Venango Township is a township in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,253 at the 2020 census,
Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 2,297 in 2010, 2,256 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Venango Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The manufacturing interests of Venango Township are as follows, not including those of Wattsburg Borough: At Lowville — A grist mill run by water; a saw mill by steam and water, and a steam shingle and heading mill. The grist mill was built in 1822, has been remodeled since, and has frequently changed owners.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
York, which is exactly on a parallel with the western extremity of Lake Ontario. It was established in the year 1788 by a joint commission of Pennsylvania and the United States, leaving a Triangle which was subsequently purchased by the State. Venango Township is within the Triangle, and its south line is a part of the original northern boundary of the commonwealth. The villages are Lowville and Phillipsville, both of which have post offices. The highest point in Erie County is said to be in Venango Township, near the Greenfield and New York lines.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
2024State Line Road wb at Venango Twp., Erie Co., PA, Jun…
2024PA 8-89 nb split in Lowville, June 2024
2024PA 8-89 nb in Lowville, June 2024
2024PA 8-89 nb entering Venango Twp., Erie Co., June 2024
2024PA 8-89 nb entering Lowville, June 2024
2024PA 8 nb past PA 89, June 2024
2000Pennsylvania State Route 8
2000Pennsylvania State Route 8The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 2,253 and 2,297 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Venango Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Venango Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Venango Township is more historic than 78% 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.
One place: the Almerion C. & Barbara Moseman Orton Farm (listed 2020).
16% of Venango Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1988.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (8), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
