Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Nyttend · Public domain1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 41 buildings. Below: maps from 1901 on and the census since 1890.
Coalport dates its founding to 1876 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1890.
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 Coalport’s history is told.
The 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.
Peaked at 1,222 in 1930; 425 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Coalport’s Wikipedia page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Coalport yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Coalport is a borough in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 425 at the 2020 census.
Coalport was established in 1876. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 523 to 425 (-19%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Coalport, cut from the printed page as they were published.
1876, sold to James Haines, esq. Around this old home the town of Coalport has .sprung up, and continued to grow and expand until it has become phenomenal in its growth. At the time when the farm, which is now the location of the town of Coalport, was bought by Mr. Haines, it was not a promising piece of land, but soon application was made to Mr. Haines to sell lots for building purposes. The narrow gauge road, which extended from Bellwood to Lloydsville in Cambria county, was extended by the Bell's Gap Railroad Company to Coalport and Irvona, and was soon made a broad gauge. The
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Pennsylvania Railroad at Cresson, Cambria county, to Irvona, in Beccaria township, and under the charter name of the Cresson, Clearfield County, and New York Short Route Railroad Company, although commonly known as the Cresson and Coalport Railroad. This road was largely due to the untiring energy of Hon. John Dean, president judge of Cambria county, for its construction, and opens a rich district of coal, timber, and fire clay. It is already surveyed, located and prospected from Irvona along Clearfield Creek: to an intersection with the Beech Creek, Clearfield, and Southwestern Railroad, at a
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
and having his home alternately or successively at Mt. Savage, Southampton, Tipton and Tyrone, in 1880 moving from the latter place to Coalport, where he opened the first store in the place, the old building where he conducted it still being in evidence. He died here in 1890 at the age of seventy-four years.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
road, formerly known as the Bell's Gap railroad, extends from Bellwood in Blair county through the northwestern part of Clearfield county by way of Coalport, Irvona and Mahaffey, having its terminus at Punxsutawney. This road was begun in 1871 and completed in 1887.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Coalport. 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 Coalport.
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.
1901Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1876, according to Wikidata. Coalport’s post office opened in 1882, and the census of 1890 counted 855 people here.
One place: the Coalport Historic District (listed 1999).
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 (2), the National Register of Historic Places (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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