1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 350 buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1840.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1823.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Wrightsville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wrightsville is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Wrightsville’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 Wrightsville’s 1,873 sits above most of its state (99% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 350 historic buildings outnumber those of 96% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.0 points). Two sources give 1811.
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 Wrightsville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
According to a plaque at Samuel S. Lewis State Park, which overlooks Wrightsville and the Susquehanna River, Wrightsville was among George Washington's choices as the location of the capital of the United States.
The world's longest covered bridge, at 5,600 feet (1,700 m), once spanned the Susquehanna from Wrightsville to neighboring Columbia in Lancaster County. Built in 1814, it was destroyed by high water and ice in 1832. A replacement bridge was burned the night of June 28, 1863, by state militia during the Gettysburg campaign in the American Civil War. Confederate troops under John Brown Gordon formed a bucket brigade to save the town from fire. Yet another replacement covered bridge was destroyed by a windstorm a few years later.
Passages that mention Wrightsville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of York County Pennsylvania From the Earliest Time to the Present1886 · page 341Read the page →
Read the text
A company had been formed in 1835, and a board of directors elected to build a railroad from Wrightsville to Gettysburg, and from thence through to Hagerstown, Md. An act of the legislature was passed May, 1836, incorporating it as the Wrightsville & Gettysburg Railroad Company. Hon. Thaddeus Stevens, one of the chief incorporators,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of York County, Pennsylvania1886 · page 514Read the page →
Read the text
Road crosses the stream." Monocacy Road was laid out and opened in 1739, named after a stream near which it terminated, and extended from Wrightsville through York and Hanover to the Maryland line. In 1741 a road was laid out from York toward Potap- 8C0, now Baltimore.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Wrightsville is situated on historic ground. While Congress was in session at Philadelphia, and a permanent seat of government was being discussed, either the east side of the river at Columbia or the west side at Wrightsville was designated as a suitable place for the capital of the United States.
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.
Timeline
Wrightsville, 1811 to 1983
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1811, according to Wikidata. Wrightsville’s post office opened in 1823, and the census of 1840 counted 672 people here.
How does Wrightsville rank for history?
Wrightsville is more historic than 98% 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.
What is on the National Register in Wrightsville?
One place: the Wrightsville Historic District (listed 1983).
How old are the homes in Wrightsville?
46% of Wrightsville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1944.
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 (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
1894
2010
