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History · Austin

Austin dates to 1856, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Austin Dam. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1898 on, and the census since 1890.

1856founded
1on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
10old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Austin’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Austin began

When was Austin founded?

1856

Austin dates its founding to 1856 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1890.

First census: 1,679 in 18902020 census: 482170 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1887.The full story ↓

What stands out about Austin’s past

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

Boom and bustPeaked at 2,941 in 1910; 482 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1898 to 1911, drew every building in Austin.Old housesHalf of Austin’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · People over time

Austin, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,941

Peaked at 2,941 in 1910; 482 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Every building

Austin, building by building, 1898–1911

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.

Austin fire insurance map, 1898, sheet 11898Sheet 1 of 4
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Austin came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Austin.

Read it all →

In September 1856, Edward Oramel Austin came to Freeman Run. He fell in love with the area and began to build a village. From then on, he lived his entire life in the valley. He served in the Civil War and returned to his valley after. His dream grew until his town, at one period, was one of the largest in Potter County. At the time of his death in 1908, the town of Austin was at its most productive with paper mills and saw mills as well. He lived to see a great dream come true. Two years later, nearly the entire town was swept away when the great dam built by the Bayless Pulp and Paper Company failed to hold back its 500,000,000+ gallons of water. The home of E.O. Austin went with it.

Chapters1911 dam failureMayoral controversy, 2021

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Austin, 1850 to 1948

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Potter County - ED 53-1, E…
  3. 1856
    FoundingAustin is established
  4. 1887Post officeThe Austin post office opens
  5. 1891Born hereGeorge C. Paterson is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1909BuiltAustin Dam is built
  8. 1910In the archiveSchool house, Austin, Pa. Used as refuge
  9. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 2,941
  10. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Austin, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s1 item
1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Potter County - ED 53-1, ED 53-2, ED 53-3, ED 53-4, ED 5…18501940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Penns…
1910s9 items
School house, Austin, Pa. Used as refuge1910School house, Austin, Pa. Used as refugeAustin Dam - Flood wreck LCCN2014689748 (cropped)1911Austin Dam - Flood wreck LCCN2014689748 (cropped)Austin Dam - Flood wreck1911Austin Dam - Flood wreckAustin Dam - Flood wreck1911Austin Dam - Flood wreckAustin Dam 2163739414 2af8ec49ea o1911Austin Dam 2163739414 2af8ec49ea oAustin, Pa. ruins from Goodyear yard looking east1911Austin, Pa. ruins from Goodyear yard looking eastAustin-Dam Flood, wreck of School House LCCN2014689756 (cropped)1911Austin-Dam Flood, wreck of School House LCCN201468975…Austin. Stable Housing Refugees1911Austin. Stable Housing RefugeesAustin. Stable Housing Refugees1911Austin. Stable Housing Refugees
1920s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today2 recent
Austin Free Methodist Church2013Austin Free Methodist ChurchMap of Potter County, Pennsylvania Highlighting2008Map of Potter County, Pennsylvania HighlightingMap
On the map

Austin on the map, 1948 to 1971

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

Austin on the 1948 USGS mapAustin on the 1950 USGS mapAustin on the 1971 USGS map1948Austin sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Austin.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Potter County - ED 53-1, ED 53-2, ED 53-3, ED 53-4, ED 5…
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Potter County - ED 53-1, ED 53-2, ED 53-3, ED 53-4, ED 5…, 1850

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Austin’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Austin

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1987
Austin Dam
Austin Dam, built 1909
Sites
Austin DamBuilt 1909

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

Help out

Finish Austin’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Descri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Portage TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSylvania TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townKeating TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Austin’s history

What year was Austin founded?

In 1856, according to Wikidata. Austin’s post office opened in 1887, and the census of 1890 counted 1,679 people here.

What is on the National Register in Austin?

One place: the Austin Dam (listed 1987).

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 (12), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.