Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listings are the Wilmot House, the Wilmot Mansion and the Bethany Presbyterian Church. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1830.
Bethany dates its founding to 1800 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1830.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bethany’s history is told.
Lost two-thirds of its people between 1830 and 1920, then more than doubled.
20 censuses, 1830–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bethany’s Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bethany. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bethany.
From Wikipedia’s history of Bethany.
The borough was named after Bethany, a place mentioned in the Bible.
The Wilmot House and Wilmot Mansion are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereGeorge Washington Woodward is born here
Born hereHenry Mills Fuller is born here
Born hereJohn Azor Kellogg is born here
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Wayne County - Dyberry - ED 64-11
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveUniversity of Northern Pennsylvania2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bethany’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Bethany had its own post office from 1811 to 1938.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1800, according to Wikidata. Bethany’s post office opened in 1811, and the census of 1830 counted 327 people here.
Three places: the Wilmot House (listed 1974), the Wilmot Mansion (1978) and the Bethany Presbyterian Church (2024).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (10), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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) 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.
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