Founding year: the first Windsor post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1830.
History grade
What drives Windsor’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Windsor is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Windsor’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 Windsor’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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±14.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1830 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 →
What stands out about Windsor’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Windsor yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Windsor is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,359 at the 2020 census. It was established in 1905 as Windsorville and was named after Windsor, England. It is part of the York–Hanover metropolitan area.
Its first post office opened in 1815. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,319 to 1,358 (+3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
On the map
Windsor on the map, 1908 to 1999
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Windsor. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1908York 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 Windsor.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Windsor in 1886
Passages that mention Windsor, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of York County, Pennsylvania1886 · page 130Read the page →
Read the text
school, to prepare teachers, with M. J. Blessing as assistant. He was for ten years captain of a boat on the Tide Water Canal. In 1860 he w in Windsor Township, in 1864 in Lower Windsor Township, and in 1882 in East Prospect Borough. He took the enrollment in Windsor Township in 1861, and the census of Windsor, Lower Windsor and East Prospect in 1870. In 1858 he was elected
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of York County, Pennsylvania1886 · page 725Read the page →
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Windsor Postoffice, or Windsorville, is located in the southern part of the township. There was a postoffice by that name a distance south of the site of the present village as early as the year 1832. William S. Corn well, of Manor Furnace fame, was its post master then. He was succeeded by Rev Peter Herrman, who kept it many years
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of York County Pennsylvania From the Earliest Time to the Present1886 · page 724Read the page →
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The township thus described constituted what is now Windsor and Lower Windsor, which formed one district for nearly 100 years. Upon the erection of Lower Windsor in 1838, the limits were contracted to its present area. The beautiful and historic name "Windsor" was doubtless suggested by Thomas Armor, a man of great force of char-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of York County Pennsylvania From the Earliest Time to the Present1886Read the page →
Read the text
THIS township was formed in 1838, by a division of Windsor, of which it formed a part for a period of eighty years. Lower Windsor is bounded on the north by Hellam, on the east by the Susquehanna, on the south by Chanceford and on the west by Windsor.
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.
Between 697 and 1,358 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Windsor’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Windsor’s history
What year was Windsor founded?
The Windsor post office opened in 1815, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1830.
How does Windsor rank for history?
Windsor is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns. 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.
How old are the homes in Windsor?
52% of Windsor’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±14.7 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 (3), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), 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.
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