Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 20% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Watts Township was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: maps from 1947 on and old-book passages.
More historic than 20% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Watts Township is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Watts 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.
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 Watts Township’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Watts Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Watts Township is a township in Perry County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,233 at the 2020 census.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,265 to 1,231 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Watts Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Deed Book 85, page 634). The seventh section of the Articles of Incorporation provides that tri-annually after the last Saturday of July, 1917, an election shall be held for trustees, and that all citizens of the age of twenty-one and upwards residing in Watts Township and New Buffalo, and all persons having relatives buried in said cemetery, shall have the right of ballot. The cemetery is kept in order by voluntary contributions.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
resident of Bucks Valley, Buffalo Township, who says: ‘The people in an early day worshiped in a church situated on the top of Half Falls Mountain. It was used by the inhabitants of Buck’s Valley and those of Watts Township. This church was destroyed by fire in 1800.” Learning of its existence from an old resident Mr. Stephens soon found himself at the mountain top, on the road leading from Buck’s Valley to New Buffalo. At the township line, on the crest of the mountain, stands a large oak tree. T'aking
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Deed Book 85, page 634). ‘The seventh section of the Articles of Incorporation provides that tri-annually after the last Saturday of July, 1917, an election shall be held for trustees, and that all citizens of the age of twenty-one and upwards residing in Watts Township and New Buffalo, and all persons having relatives buried in said cemetery, shall have the right of ballot. The cemetery is kept in order by voluntary contributions.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
the two-story brick building was erected on the same lot. The borough had two schools until after the closing of the Pennsylvania Canal. Prior to the erection of the first schoolhouse the pupils attended the school at Hill Church, in Watts Township. The Baughman ferry landing was at Peach Alley, near the foot of the canal bridge. The landing in Dauphin County was at the old stone tavern.
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Watts 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 Watts Township.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Watts Township is more historic than 20% 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.
6% of Watts Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.
