Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 65% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1922 on, and the census since 1860.
Cochranton dates its founding to 1800 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1860.
More historic than 65% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cochranton is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
Pennsylvania towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Pennsylvania town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Cochranton’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
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 Cochranton’s history is told.
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 Cochranton. 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 Cochranton.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Cochranton yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Cochranton is a borough in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,124 at the 2020 census, down from 1,136 as of the 2010 census.
Cochranton was established in 1800. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,136 in 2010, 1,118 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Cochranton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
George Henry, a few years later, opened a store. The population in 1840 comprised about a dozen families. The postoffice was at first kept on the pike east of the village, and about 1852 Hugh Smith became the first Postmaster at Cochranton. The growth of the village has been gradual but constant. The Franklin Branch of the N. Y., P. & O. Railroad passes through it and affords facilities which have greatly improved the place.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Presbyterian Church of Cochranton, had the following origin: about 1848, a division occurred in the Cochranton Associate Reformed or United Presbyterian Church, the seceding members organizing a Covenanter or Reformed Presbyterian Congregation. In 1852 a church building, still in use, and situated on Frankiin Street, was erected at an original cost of $800. It was changed from the Pittsburgh Reformed Presbytery to the Hrie Presbytery, September 26, 1867, during the pastorate of Rev. David Patton, who was installed June 27, 1866. The Elders at this time were: Robert Gourley,
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.
2024Old Route 322 eb in Cochranton, PA (2), June 2024
2024Old Route 322 eb in Cochranton, PA (1), June 2024
2024Old Route 322 eb entering Cochranton, PA, June 2024
2024Cochranton, PA post office, June 2024
2024Cochranton Junior-Senior High School, PA, June 2024
2019Course of Powdermill Run (French Creek tributary)
2014Cochranton PA Presby PHS137
2014Cochranton PA PHS138
2013Rusty Adams StreetFire 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.
1922Sheet 1 of 4Sanborn 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 Cochranton’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 250 and 1,240 people in every census since 1860.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cochranton’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1800, according to Wikidata. Cochranton’s post office opened in 1852, and the census of 1860 counted 250 people here.
Cochranton is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
24% of Cochranton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1956.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (9), 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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