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History · Winterstown

Winterstown dates to 1830, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1908 on and the census since 1880.

1830founded
0on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
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Photo: WabbyTwaxx · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Winterstown began

When was Winterstown founded?

1830

Winterstown dates its founding to 1830 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 199 in 18802020 census: 608196 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1871.The full story ↓

What stands out about Winterstown’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Winterstown are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19086 editions of the USGS map, 1908 to 1999. Watch Winterstown change.Deep rootsEstablished in 1830: 196 years of Winterstown.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Winterstown’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Winterstown on the map, 1908 to 1999

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Winterstown. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Winterstown on the 1908 USGS mapWinterstown on the 1910 USGS mapWinterstown on the 1953 USGS mapWinterstown on the 1968 USGS mapWinterstown on the 1973 USGS mapWinterstown on the 1999 USGS map1908York 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 Winterstown.

Timeline

Winterstown, 1830 to 1908

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1830
    FoundingWinterstown is established
  3. 1871Post officeThe Winterstown post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1905Post officeThe Winterstown post office closes
  6. 1908On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Winterstown came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Winterstown.

Read it all →

Townsend Winters, a resident of Steuben County, New York, purchased a four-hundred-acre tract of heavily forested land in York County, Pennsylvania, circa 1830, from the heirs of Reverend John Smith for two thousand dollars. After clearing portions of the land, Winters began work on building a house there and planted an apple orchard. As other settlers made their way to this area of the county, Winters cleared more of the land, and began sectioning it into individual lots, which he subsequently sold to the new arrivals. That first community, which would later become known as the Borough of Winterstown, was initially named Apple Grove in recognition of the thriving orchard that Winters had planted. Prior to completing work on his house, Winters then sold his home and land to Daniel Brenneman, who completed work on the structure, then built a blacksmith shop there.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Winterstown, decade by decade

Today6 recent
PA 216 eb entering Winterstown, Feb. 20262026PA 216 eb entering Winterstown, Feb. 2026PA 216 eb at PA 24, Feb. 20262026PA 216 eb at PA 24, Feb. 2026PA 216 eb approaching PA 24, Feb. 20262026PA 216 eb approaching PA 24, Feb. 2026Winter in2013Winter inPennsylvania State Route 242011Pennsylvania State Route 24Pennsylvania State Route 242011Pennsylvania State Route 24
People over time

Winterstown, census by census

010020030040050060070018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 632

Between 199 and 632 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Winterstown

Nobody well known was born in Winterstown itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Cameron MitchellAmerican actor · b. 1918
L
Lzzy HaleAmerican singer and guitarist · b. 1983
Isaac Newton LewisAmerican soldier and inventor of the Lewis gun · b. 1858
William F. GoodlingAmerican politician · b. 1927
R
Richard ShaullAmerican theologian · b. 1919
R
Ron WolfAmerican football general manager · b. 1938
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Winterstown had its own post office from 1871 to 1905.

Winterstown
1871–1905
18701950today

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

Questions about Winterstown’s history

What year was Winterstown founded?

In 1830, according to Wikidata. Winterstown’s post office opened in 1871, and the census of 1880 counted 199 people here.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), 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.