Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 69% of U.S. towns · #488 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Ashley and Bailey Company Silk Mill and the West Side Sanitarium. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1910.
West York dates its founding to 1904 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1910.
More historic than 69% 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 York is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #488 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age 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 York’s 11.8 sits above most of its state (78% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 York’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of West York.
Formally known as the village of Eberton, the Borough of West York was founded in 1904.
The Ashley and Bailey Company Silk Mill, William Shelly School and Annex, and West Side Sanitarium are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention West York, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The Princess Street Church was the direct result of a Sunday-school opened in September, 1881, in a schoolhouse in West York, then known as Smysertown. Prof. W. H. Shelley was the superintendent. A church was built and dedicated in 1882. The Sunday-school now numbers 150 pupils. The Ridge Avenue Church was dedicated in 1884,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
are the leading contractors of York, aind their field of operations extends throughout this city and neighboring towns and cities. The yards are conveniently situated in West York, adjacent to the, N. C. railroad, with siding connection, aind are well-equipped with all machinery and appliances necessary for the proper conduct of their line of work, including a fine steam plant,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltAshley and Bailey Company Silk Mill is built
In the archiveStructure in limestones of Kinzers formation
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of West York. 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 York.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on West York’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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 2,435 and 5,756 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on West York’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in West York itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1904, according to Wikidata. the census of 1910 counted 2,435 people here.
West York is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #488 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 Ashley and Bailey Company Silk Mill (listed 1991) and the West Side Sanitarium (2004).
54% of West York’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1930
2026
2013
2012
