Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 45% of U.S. towns · #799 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Most of Wilkins Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1961. Below: maps from 1904 on and the census since 1970.
Wilkins Township dates its founding to 1821 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1970.
More historic than 45% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wilkins Township is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #799 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Wilkins 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.
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 Wilkins Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Wilkins 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 Wilkins Township.
Another post office, Linhart, 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 Wilkins Township.
The township was created from the eastern part of Pitt Township on November 10, 1821. Its territory originally stretched between the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers; from it sprang most of the municipalities between Pittsburgh on the west and Plum and Monroeville on the east.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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 SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Between 6,357 and 8,749 people in every census since 1970.
5 censuses, 1970–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Wilkins Township’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1821, according to Wikidata. Wilkins Township’s post office opened in 1897, and the census of 1970 counted 8,749 people here.
Wilkins Township is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #799 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.
8% of Wilkins Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1961.
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 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.
