Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1854.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives West Deer Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, West Deer Township is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #634 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of West Deer Township’s overall grade.
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 Deer 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.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1836.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.9 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). 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 West Deer Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1788, the Pennsylvania Legislature created Allegheny County from some of Westmoreland and Washington counties and most of the Depreciation Lands north of the Ohio River and west of the Allegheny River. The county was expanded a year later. Of the county's then seven townships, Pitt Township comprised most of the northern part of the county. It is this township that would be divided in 1796 to form Pine and Deer townships. Deer Township was made up of what is today the eastern parts of Richland and West Deer, Frazer, most of East Deer, part of Hampton, and all of Fawn and Harrison. Deer gets its name from Chief Deer, a sub-chief of Iroquois leader Guyasuta. Half of Deer Township was used to create Indiana Township in 1805. In 1836, upon petition of its citizens, Deer was divided into East Deer and West Deer. In 1860, the western boundary of West Deer was moved eastward, the land being…
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of West Deer Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1908New Kensington 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 West Deer Township.
Famous people
Famous people close to West Deer Township
Nobody well known was born in West Deer Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
In 1836, according to Wikidata. West Deer Township’s post office opened in 1854, and the census of 1850 counted 1,716 people here.
How does West Deer Township rank for history?
West Deer Township is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #634 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.
How old are the homes in West Deer Township?
16% of West Deer Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1973.
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.
