Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1963 on and the census since 1870.
Cooperstown dates its founding to 1797 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.
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 Cooperstown’s history is told.
Lost a third of its people between 1880 and 1910, then more than doubled.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cooperstown’s Wikipedia page.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereArnold Plumer is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWikipedia doesn’t have a history of Cooperstown yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Cooperstown is a borough in Venango County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Cooperstown had a population of 399.
Cooperstown was established in 1797. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 460 to 399 (-13%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Cooperstown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Rich, Booth & Hillier built a grist mill at Cooperstown in 1846-47, which is still in operation. At the lower bridge, a mile and a half from Cooperstown — Robison built a mill which was owned for a time by David W. S. Cook. John McKinzie built a mill on the Lake branch early in the forties, and operated it until about seven years since, when it was destroyed by fire. A saw mill on the same stream was owned and operated by Alexander Wilson, and performed valuable service in clearing the timber of that region. Mr. Wilson also had a store and postoffice; the latter was known
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
.tirement. He operated the place profitably for many years, being one of the most successful agriculturists of his locality, and eventually sold it, moving into the town of Cooperstown to enjoy his leisure years in comfort and the agreeable associations of many old friendships.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
tinued to follow those lines for thirty years, and meanwhile also engaged in farming and milling, employing a number of men. In 1830 he bought a farm above Cooperstown, this county, where he built a house and bam and cleared about forty acres, afterward putting up a house and bam in Cooperstown. Then he bought 130 acres fottr and a half miles
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John G. Bradley, accompanied by his father and brother Robert, emigrated from L-eland in 1790; in 1816 he removed from Huntingdon to Venango county, locating on a tract of land that embraces that part of Bradleytown east of the Cooperstown road. Here he built a grist and saw mill; the former has been incorporated into the present mill on its site, while the latter has been dismantled but still stands, a reminder of the past. Jacob Jennings settled on the adjoining tract at an earlier date and was the first blacksmith. J. M. Smith was the first merchant and W. H. Bradley the
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cooperstown. 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 Cooperstown.
In 1797, according to Wikidata. Cooperstown’s post office opened in 1831, and the census of 1870 counted 264 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 (5), 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 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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