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History · Avonia

Avonia’s post office opened in 1869

Most of Avonia was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1965. Below: maps from 1900 on and old-book passages.

1869first post office
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Dasandman008 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Avonia began

When was Avonia founded?

1869

The Avonia post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,217157 years
Founding year: the first Avonia post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Avonia’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 Avonia are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19005 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1998. Watch Avonia change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Avonia’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Avonia’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

Avonia on the map, 1900 to 1998

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

Avonia on the 1900 USGS mapAvonia on the 1957 USGS mapAvonia on the 1969 USGS mapAvonia on the 1975 USGS mapAvonia on the 1998 USGS map1900Fairview 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 Avonia.

The story so far

Avonia, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Avonia yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Avonia is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Avonia had a population of 1,217. It is part of the Erie Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1869. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,205 in 2010, 1,217 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Avonia in 1884

Passages that mention Avonia, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Fairview Depot, or Avonia, is the railroad station of Fairview -Borough, from which it is about half a mile north. The buildings of the place, besides the railroad oflaces, are George S. Stone's store and warehouse, some half a dozen residences and an eating house.
History of Erie county, Pennsylvania1884 · page 745Read the page →
Read the text

Fairview Depot, or Avonia, is the railroad station of Fairview -Borough, from which it is about half a mile north. The buildings of the place, besides the railroad oflaces, are George S. Stone's store and warehouse, some half a dozen residences and an eating house.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
line (built jointly by MeKean and Fairview Townships). -■ The manufacturing industries of Fairview Township are as follows: On Bear Run — Nason's grist mill. On Walnut Creek — Weigle's grist mill, Lohrer's grist mill and Morgan & Co.'s paper mill, just below Avonia or Fairview Station (the paper mi…
History of Erie county, Pennsylvania1884 · page 742Read the page →
Read the text

line (built jointly by MeKean and Fairview Townships). -■ The manufacturing industries of Fairview Township are as follows: On Bear Run — Nason's grist mill. On Walnut Creek — Weigle's grist mill, Lohrer's grist mill and Morgan & Co.'s paper mill, just below Avonia or Fairview Station (the paper mill was destroyed by fire August 30, 1883), and Feidler's grist mill at the Lake road (now owned by McKee & Kermick).

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.

By decade

Avonia, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Avonia sign2006Avonia sign
Famous people

Famous people close to Avonia

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

See all →
Paul J. WeitzAmerican astronaut · b. 1932
Marilyn BurnsAmerican actress · b. 1949
Joseph D. PistoneAmerican FBI agent · b. 1939
B
Billy BlanksAmerican fitness guru · b. 1955
Douglas TompkinsAmerican environmentalist · b. 1943
R
Richard AnuszkiewiczAmerican artist · b. 1930
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Fairview Township1 historic placeB+Girard Township1 historic placeB+

Questions about Avonia’s history

What year was Avonia founded?

The Avonia post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.