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AHistory
History · Willistown Township

Willistown Township dates to 1681, and 5 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns · #233 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it

Most of Willistown Township was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. 5 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 98 buildings between them. Below: the census since 1930.

1681founded
5on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Willistown Township began

When was Willistown Township founded?

1681

Willistown Township dates its founding to 1681 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1930.

First census: 2,066 in 19302020 census: 11,273345 years

How historic is Willistown Township?

A

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1803.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Willistown Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Willistown Township is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #233 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Willistown Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1681, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 19406.8% of homes (±1.9) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register5 listings, 104 historic buildings, 91.5 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 87%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 78%

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 Willistown Township’s 91.5 sits above most of its state (88% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 104 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A+. The pre-1940 share (±1.9 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1681.

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 →

What stands out about Willistown Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Willistown Township, and 22 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Willistown Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Okehocking Historic District takes in 69 historic buildings.Older than the countryEstablished in 1681, 95 years before the Declaration of Independence.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Willistown
1803–1835
Sugartown
1853–1913
Duffryn Mawr
1882–1920
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Colonial WayDeerfield KnollDelchester FarmDuffryn MawrGreen TreeKnickerbockerOld Covered Bridge EstatesPaoli GardensPaoli ManorPenns Preserve at WillistownPlumsockRadnor HuntSugartownVillage BuildersWhitehorseWhitehorse FarmsWillistownWillistown ChaseWillistown HuntWillistown KnollWillistown WoodsWorington Commons
Gone or out of use
Willistown Post Officepost office
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Willistown Township
Church of the Good SamaritanDaylesford AbbeyPaoli Presbyterian ChurchSaint Francis in the Fields EpiscopalWillistown Friends

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Willistown Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Willistown Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

5 listings protect 104 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
104
each building in a district counts
first listed
1984
Sugartown Historic District
Sugartown Historic DistrictOkehocking Historic DistrictPaoli Battlefield Site and Parade GroundsWhite Horse Historic DistrictGarrett Farmstead, built 1802
BuildingsDistrictsSites

Architectural styles listings

Colonial3
Colonial Revival2
Vernacular1
Penn Plan1
Classical Revival1
Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Sugartown Historic DistrictVernacular
Okehocking Historic DistrictColonial
Paoli Battlefield Site and Parade GroundsColonial Revival
White Horse Historic DistrictFederal
Garrett FarmsteadColonial · Built 1802

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Willistown Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Willistown Township.

Read it all →

Originally occupied by Lenape Native Americans, Willistown Township was part of the 50,000 acres (200 km2) Welsh Tract surveyed for William Penn in 1684. The Holmes Map of 1681 is the first reference to Willistown, calling it "Willeston". In 1704, Willistown was organized as a township.

A Native American reservation was located here and is memorialized by a monument.

The first roads in Willistown Township were Native American trails. In 1710, three cowpaths were established here: Goshen, Sugartown, and Boot. Those roads are still in existence, under the same names.

The West Chester Railroad, later to be a part of the Pennsylvania Railroad, had its eastern terminus at Malvern, in this township. The terminus was moved to Frazer in 1870.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Willistown Township, 1681 to 1920

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 17th century
  2. 1681
    FoundingWillistown Township is established
  3. 18th century
  4. 1757Born hereWilliam Harris is born here
  5. 19th century
  6. 1802BuiltGarrett Farmstead is built
  7. 1803Post officeThe Willistown post office opens
  8. 1835Post officeThe Willistown post office closes
  9. 1853Post officeThe Sugartown post office opens
  10. 1882Post officeThe Duffryn Mawr post office opens
  11. 20th century
  12. 1913Post officeThe Sugartown post office closes
  13. 1920Post officeThe Duffryn Mawr post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
People over time

Willistown Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,0001940196019802000202011,273

Grew from 2,066 people in 1930 to 11,273 in 2020, 5 times over.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Willistown Township’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Newtown Township5 historic placesA−East Goshen Township3 historic placesBMalvernIts storyB−PaoliIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEdgmont Township1 historic placeB+Tredyffrin Township14 historic placesA−Easttown Township3 historic placesA−Westtown Township1 historic placeC+

Questions about Willistown Township’s history

What year was Willistown Township founded?

In 1681, according to Wikidata. Willistown Township’s post office opened in 1803, and the census of 1930 counted 2,066 people here.

How does Willistown Township rank for history?

Willistown Township is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #233 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 Willistown Township?

5 listings: 1 building, 3 historic districts, the Sugartown Historic District, the Okehocking Historic District and the White Horse Historic District, with 98 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 104 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Willistown Township?

7% of Willistown Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.9 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1979.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.