2 of West Goshen Township’s places are on the National Register
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns · #771 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Collins Mansion and the Butler House. Most of West Goshen Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: maps from 1901 on.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, West Goshen Township is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #771 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of West Goshen 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 Goshen Township’s 0.8 sits near the middle of its state (53% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±2.2 points) is firm at this size.
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 →
What stands out about West Goshen Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
10cemeteries and burying grounds inside West Goshen Township
Bible BaptistChester County Memorial ParkChestnut Grove AnnexChestnut GroveGreen MountOakland FriendsRolling Green Memorial ParkRosedale FriendsSaint AgnesThe Oaklands
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start West Goshen Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how West Goshen Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of West Goshen Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1901West Chester 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 Goshen Township.
The story so far
West Goshen Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of West Goshen Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
West Goshen was a census-designated place (CDP) in West Goshen Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,472 at the 2000 census. The CDP was not delineated for the 2010 census.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 21,866 to 23,040 (+5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
West Goshen Township, 1802 to 1919
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
West Goshen Township is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #771 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.
What is on the National Register in West Goshen Township?
Two places: the Collins Mansion (listed 1972) and the Butler House (1980).
How old are the homes in West Goshen Township?
8% of West Goshen Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.2 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
