Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Photo by and (c)2006 Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man) · CC BY-SA 2.5More historic than 55% of U.S. towns · #682 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Most of West Earl Township was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Its Register listings are the Bitzer's Mill Covered Bridge and the Bridge in West Earl Township. Below: maps from 1906 on and the census since 2000.
West Earl Township dates its founding to 1661 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 2000.
More historic than 55% 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 Earl Township is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #682 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls 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 Earl Township’s 2.4 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 →
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 West Earl Township’s history is told.
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 SurveyTwo 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).
From Wikipedia’s history of West Earl Township.
The Bridge in West Earl Township, Bitzer's Mill Covered Bridge, and Zook's Mill Covered Bridge are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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 West Earl 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 Earl Township.
The 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 6,766 and 8,565 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on West Earl Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in West Earl Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1661, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. West Earl Township’s post office opened in 1855, and the census of 2000 counted 6,766 people here.
West Earl Township is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #682 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.
Two places: the Bitzer's Mill Covered Bridge (listed 1980) and the Bridge in West Earl Township (1988).
10% of West Earl Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
