Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 70% of U.S. towns · #463 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Most of West Whiteland Township was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. 49 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 24 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1906 on and the census since 1930.
The West Whiteland Township post office opened in 1826, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, West Whiteland (1826), Grove (1832) and Belvidere (1843), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 70% 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 Whiteland Township is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #463 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 Whiteland Township’s 54.3 sits above most of its state (86% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 110 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (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 country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Five 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 Whiteland Township’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of West Whiteland Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
West Whiteland Township is a township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 19,632 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1826. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 18,274 to 19,632 (+7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereRichard Thomas is born here
BuiltJacob Zook House is builtBuiltGreenwood School is built
BuiltWhitford Station House is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
BuiltChurch Farm School Historic District is builtWeddings 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 Whiteland 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 Whiteland Township.
Grew from 928 people in 1930 to 19,632 in 2020, more than tenfold.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on West Whiteland Township’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The West Whiteland Township post office opened in 1826, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
West Whiteland Township is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #463 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.
49 listings: 47 buildings, among them the Zook House (listed 1976, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Grove Historic District and the Church Farm School Historic District, with 24 contributing buildings. 110 historic buildings in all.
3% of West Whiteland Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 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 Wikidata (8), the National Register of Historic Places (49), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
