Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 15 old photos and papers, maps from 1906 on, and the census since 1880.
Clarendon dates its founding to 1872 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Clarendon yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Clarendon is a borough in Warren County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Clarendon had a population of 410.
Clarendon was established in 1872. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 450 to 410 (-9%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Peaked at 1,297 in 1890; 410 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Clarendon’s Wikipedia page.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1996VIEW EAST, EAST ELEVATION OF ECCENTRIC HOUSE, NOTE RO…
1996VIEW EAST, SOUTH PENN POWERHOUSE, (FROM LEFT) ENGINE …
1996VIEW NORTH, SOUTH ELEVATION, (FROM LEFT) ECCENTRIC HO…
1996VIEW SOUTH, NORTH ELEVATION, (FROM LEFT) ENGINE HOUSE…
1996VIEW SOUTHEAST, ECCENTRIC HOUSE, INTERIOR, NOTE DOUBL…
1996VIEW SOUTHEAST, NORTHWEST CORNER OF ENGINE HOUSE AND …
1996VIEW SOUTHWEST, ENGINE HOUSE, INTERIOR, NOTE ECCENTRI…
1996VIEW WEST, SOUTH PENN POWERHOUSE, (FROM LEFT) BLEEDER…
1997VIEW NORTHWEST, COOLING TANK, ENGINE, ECCENTRIC THROU…
1997VIEW NORTHWEST, ECCENTRIC AND GEARED WHEEL. - South P…
1997VIEW SOUTHEAST, CLUTCH MECHANISM. - South Penn Oil Co…
1997VIEW SOUTHEAST, GASOMETER. - South Penn Oil Company, …
1997VIEW SOUTHWEST, PUMPJACK. - South Penn Oil Company, G…Passages that mention Clarendon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
According to his statements the township had advanced very little in either settlement or improvement. There was a small tannery at Stoneham and a clearing of perhaps I GO acres. There was no settlement at the village of Clarendon. The clearings along the river were about as they were in 1839. Samuel Grossenburg had perhaps the most extensive clearing on his farm. The rest of the township was a dense wilderness; the pine trees had been taken away, but hemlock timber was still thickly distributed through the forests, and had attained a large size. There were no families between the river and Stone-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
According to hisistatements the township had advanced very little in either settlement or improvement. There was a small tannery at Stoneham and a clearing of perhaps 100 acres. There was no settlement at the village of Clarendon. The clearings along the river were about as they were in 1839. Samuel Grossenburg had perhaps the most extensive clearing on his farm. The rest of the township was a dense wilderness; the pine trees had been taken away, but hemlock timber was still thickly distributed through the forests, and had attained a large size. There were no families between the river and Stone-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Borough of Clarendon. — We have seen that the borough of Clarendon is of recent origin even as a settlement. It is purely a product of oil operations and oil excitement, and has had a mushroom growth that would indicate in most villages a rapid decline and an early death. From its local situation and the other interests that have been founded here, however, it is quite evident that this borough is destined to a longer career of prosperity than most oil towns. It may be that the oil excitement and the free circulation of currency that accompanies the fever will be ephemeral and that the time will
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Boroitgh of Clarendoti. — We have seen that the borough of Clarendon is of recent origin even as a settlement. It is purely a product of oil operations and oil excitement, and has had a mushroom growth that would indicate in most villages a rapid decline and an early death. From its local situation and the other interests that have been founded here, however, it is quite evident that this borough is destined to a longer career of prosperity than most oil towns. It may be that the oil excitement and the free circulation of currency that accompanies the fever will be ephemeral and that the time will
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereSherry Magee is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereClarence A. Shoop is born here
In the archiveGas Well Servicing Machine, Fullerton Machine Co., Clarendon, Pa (66882)In the archiveVIEW EAST, EAST ELEVATION OF ECCENTRIC HOUSE, NOTE ROD LINES EXITING THE BUILDING AND ROD…Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Clarendon. 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 Clarendon.
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 sheet.
1912Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Clarendon’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Clarendon’s post office has been open since 1878. Another post office, Pattonia, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
In 1872, according to Wikidata. Clarendon’s post office opened in 1859, and the census of 1880 counted 295 people here.
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 (14), the Library of Congress (1), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
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