Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 21% of U.S. towns · #996 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Most of West Brandywine Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: maps from 1905 on and the census since 1930.
More historic than 21% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, West Brandywine Township is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #996 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. 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 West Brandywine 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.
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).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how West Brandywine Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of West Brandywine 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 West Brandywine Township.
From Wikipedia’s history of West Brandywine Township.
The Hatfield-Hibernia Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Per the township government's logo, the township was incorporated in 1844. West Brandywine Township
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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 SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Between 738 and 7,394 people in every census since 1930.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on West Brandywine Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in West Brandywine Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
West Brandywine Township is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #996 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. 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.
7% of West Brandywine Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1989.
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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
