Early settlement began around the mill built by James Blaine in 1778, from whom the borough took its name. The final "e" was dropped at some point, although there are records of county newspapers using the "Blaine" spelling until at least 1868. Early in the 1800s, Blaine's mill came into the possession of William Douglas, who had a post office established with the name "Douglas' Mills". A subsequent owner of the mill, Anthony Black, had the name of the post office changed to "Multicaulisville", after the mulberry tree (morus multicaulis), in which he had a financial interest during a speculative bubble in the tree. Lots were platted for sale in 1846 and the name of the post office was changed to "Blain".
Peaked at 336 in 1960; 229 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Blain’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Blain, 1873–1922
Passages that mention Blain, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Perry County, in Pennsylvania1873 · page 46Read the page →
Read the text
The original part of Blain was laid out on land granted by warrant in 1765, to James Blain. That part of the village west of Main street, was laid out on land originally granted by warrant, in 1762, to Abraham Mitchell, and the north part was warranted to James Morrison, in 1766.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Perry County, in Pennsylvania1873 · page 47Read the page →
Read the text
Soon after Blain was laid out in 1 846, James and Francis W. Woods got the name of the post-office changed from MulticauHsville to Blain, and from the post-office the village was named.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Perry County, Pennsylvania, including descriptions of Indians and pioneer life from the time of earliest settlement1922 · page 864Read the page →
Read the text
While the soils of Perry County are not noted for their fertility yet there are several limestone sections in which the soil rivals any other in the state. In the vicinity of Blain, Landisburg, and Loysville, and in the famous Pfoutz Valley, farms bring from about ten thousand to almost twenty twenty thousand dollars on occasions when they come into the market, and they do not lie next door to any city or have a market at their very side. William Woods, of Blain, once owned five farms at one time valued at
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History Of Perry County, Pennsylvania1922 · page 995Read the page →
Read the text
Kistler is a village lying several miles from the Newport & Sherman’s Valley Railroad, on the road to Juniata County, where it intersects with the road from Ickesburg to Blain. ‘The village was named Kistler in honor of David Kistler, who was instrumental in getting a post office there in 1884. The post office was abandoned after rural free delivery was instituted. ‘There were two stores there at one time. Henry Koppenheffer was the first merchant, starting about 1875.
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
Blain, 1846 to 1960
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, 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 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.
2010
