Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Boalsburg

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Boalsburg

Boalsburg’s post office opened in 1823, and 3 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Boalsburg was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: 6 old photos and papers and maps from 1908 on.

1823first post office
3on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Boalsburg’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Boalsburg began

When was Boalsburg founded?

1823

The Boalsburg post office opened in 1823, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 4,577203 years
Founding year: the first Boalsburg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Boalsburg’s past

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

On the map since 19084 editions of the USGS map, 1908 to 1987. Watch Boalsburg change.Deep rootsA post office since 1823: 203 years of Boalsburg.
★ What stands out · On the map

Boalsburg on the map, 1908 to 1987

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

Boalsburg on the 1908 USGS mapBoalsburg on the 1962 USGS mapBoalsburg on the 1971 USGS mapBoalsburg on the 1987 USGS map1908Bellefonte 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 Boalsburg.

Timeline

Boalsburg, 1837 to 1933

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1837Born hereJames Sanks Brisbin is born here
  3. 1857Born hereBenjamin Franklin Keller is born here
  4. 1873Born hereBill Stuart is born here
  5. 1874In the archiveAtlas of Centre County, Pennsylvania
  6. 20th century
  7. 1908On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1923In the archiveBoalsburg PA Presby Ch PHS100
  9. 1933In the archiveHABS PA,14-BOLBU,1- (sheet 0 of 8) - Boalsburg Tavern, Route 5
The story

How Boalsburg came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Boalsburg.

Read it all →

The name "Boalsburg" comes from the Boal family who settled the region after emigrating from County Londonderry, Ireland. The fourth generation of the Boal family, Col. Theodore Davis Boal, married Mathilde de Lagarde whose mother's sister Victoria married Diego Santiago Colón, a descendant of Christopher Columbus. Mathilde inherited a portion of her aunt Victoria's estate in 1908 and brought the Columbus Chapel to the Boal Mansion from Spain in 1919 This inheritance included an admiral's desk that family tradition says belonged to Columbus himself. The Columbus Chapel and Boal Mansion Museum are open to the public. Boalsburg originally was on the main road for travelers from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, with the David Boal tavern that housed travelers still standing today. Boalsburg is home to the Pennsylvania Military Museum, as well as the headquarters of the Civil War reenacting unit…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Boalsburg, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s1 item
Atlas of Centre County, Pennsylvania1874Atlas of Centre County, PennsylvaniaMap
1920s–1930s5 items
Boalsburg PA Presby Ch PHS1001923Boalsburg PA Presby Ch PHS100HABS PA,14-BOLBU,1- (sheet 0 of 8) - Boalsburg Tavern, Route 51933HABS PA,14-BOLBU,1- (sheet 0 of 8) - Boalsburg Tavern…HABS PA,14-BOLBU,1- (sheet 0 of 8) - Boalsburg Tavern, Route 51933HABS PA,14-BOLBU,1- (sheet 0 of 8) - Boalsburg Tavern…HABS PA,14-BOLBU,1- (sheet 1 of 8) - Boalsburg Tavern, Route 51933HABS PA,14-BOLBU,1- (sheet 1 of 8) - Boalsburg Tavern…HABS PA,14-BOLBU,1- (sheet 1 of 8) - Boalsburg Tavern, Route 51933HABS PA,14-BOLBU,1- (sheet 1 of 8) - Boalsburg Tavern…
1940s–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
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.

Boalsburg PA Presby Ch PHS100
Retake this viewBoalsburg PA Presby Ch PHS100, 1923

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 listings protect 146 historic buildings

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
146
each building in a district counts

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Boalsburg

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
James Sanks BrisbinUnion Army general · b. 1837
B
Benjamin Franklin KellerUnited States federal judge · b. 1857
Bill StuartAmerican baseball player · b. 1873
Help out

Finish Boalsburg’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBoalsburg PA Presby Ch PHS100: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Boalsburg’s history

What year was Boalsburg founded?

The Boalsburg post office opened in 1823, 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 (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.