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PA 865 sb in Blandburg, Aug. 2024Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Blandburg

Blandburg’s post office opened in 1884, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 5 old photos and papers and maps from 1903 on.

1884first post office
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Blandburg’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Blandburg began

When was Blandburg founded?

1884

The Blandburg post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 348142 years
Founding year: the first Blandburg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Blandburg’s past

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

On the map since 19204 editions of the USGS map, 1920 to 1994. Watch Blandburg change.Mystery photos5 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.
★ What stands out · On the map

Blandburg on the map, 1920 to 1994

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

Blandburg on the 1920 USGS mapBlandburg on the 1963 USGS mapBlandburg on the 1972 USGS mapBlandburg on the 1994 USGS map1920Altoona 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 Blandburg.

Help out

Start Blandburg’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Blandburg’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo5 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewTown of Blandburg: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Blandburg, in brief

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

Blandburg is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Reade Township, Pennsylvania, United States, located along Pennsylvania Route 865 in far northeastern Cambria County. It was developed as a company town for the Cambria Fire Brick Company, later acquired by the Harbison-Walker Refractories Company.

Its first post office opened in 1884. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 402 to 348 (-13%).

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

By decade

Blandburg, decade by decade

Date unknown5 to date
Town of BlandburgDate?Town of BlandburgReade Township High SchoolDate?Reade Township High SchoolHarbison-Walker Refractories Company, Office, Reade StreetDate?Harbison-Walker Refractories Company, Office, Reade S…Harbison-Walker Refractories Company, House, 4 Boyd StreetDate?Harbison-Walker Refractories Company, House, 4 Boyd S…Harbison-Walker Refractories Company, House, 5 Boyd StreetDate?Harbison-Walker Refractories Company, House, 5 Boyd S…
Today1 recent
PA 865 sb in Blandburg, Aug. 20242024PA 865 sb in Blandburg, Aug. 2024
Every building

Blandburg, building by building, 1903–1910

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.

Blandburg fire insurance map, 1903, sheet 11903Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

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

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.

Town of Blandburg
Retake this viewTown of Blandburg

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

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Blandburg’s history

What year was Blandburg founded?

The Blandburg post office opened in 1884, 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 →
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 (1), the Library of Congress (5), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.