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Main Street in CorsicaPhoto: Nyttend · Public domain
–Not graded
History · Corsica

Corsica’s post office opened in 1843, and 44% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1924 on and the census since 1860.

1843first post office
0on the National Register
44%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Nyttend · Public domain
Quick answers

How Corsica began, and where its name came from

When was Corsica founded?

1843

The Corsica post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1847.

First census: 249 in 18602020 census: 319183 years

How did Corsica get its name?

Corsica was named for the island of Corsica, birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Founding year: the first Corsica post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1847. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Corsica’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Corsica are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 481 in 1940; 319 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Corsica’s homes were built before 1949.Deep rootsA post office since 1843: 183 years of Corsica.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Corsica’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Corsica’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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People over time

Corsica, census by census

0100200300400500190019502000Peak: 481

Peaked at 481 in 1940; 319 people lived here in 2020.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Corsica’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Corsica came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Corsica.

Read it all →

Corsica suffered a devastating fire in 1873, which destroyed most of the town's businesses and residences.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Corsica in 1888

Passages that mention Corsica, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Father James Brennan, who from early summer 1872, until the spring of 1874, as assistant relieved Father Wienker of a good part of the labors of his charge, which then included besides Fiscus, Corsica, and the growing congregation of Reynoldsville. Punxsutawney, a station on Pine Run (near Ringgold…
History of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1888 · page 300Read the page →
Read the text

Father James Brennan, who from early summer 1872, until the spring of 1874, as assistant relieved Father Wienker of a good part of the labors of his charge, which then included besides Fiscus, Corsica, and the growing congregation of Reynoldsville. Punxsutawney, a station on Pine Run (near Ringgold, since then abandoned) and the attendance of the very many Catholic railroad hands, working along the Low Grade Railroad, which was built in the years 1872-73.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
back to Brookville in 1840, and worked in the mill of R. P. Barr again until 1844, when he rented the grist-mill at Port Barnett, where he remained one year, then in 1845 returned to the Barr Mill again, where he remained as miller until 1848. In 1842, he and his brother, Thomas, purchased the mill…
History of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers1888 · page 706Read the page →
Read the text

back to Brookville in 1840, and worked in the mill of R. P. Barr again until 1844, when he rented the grist-mill at Port Barnett, where he remained one year, then in 1845 returned to the Barr Mill again, where he remained as miller until 1848. In 1842, he and his brother, Thomas, purchased the mill property back of Corsica, where they built the grist-mill now owned by J. B. Jones. On the 26th day of February, 1849, Mr. Humphrey was married to Miss Mary J.

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.

Timeline

Corsica, 1843 to 1940

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1843Post officeThe Corsica post office opens
  3. 1849Born hereRobert Means Thompson is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1924On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 481
By decade

Corsica, decade by decade

Today6 recent
US 322 eb-PA 949 sb in Corsica, June 20242024US 322 eb-PA 949 sb in Corsica, June 2024US 322 eb in Corsica, PA (2), June 20242024US 322 eb in Corsica, PA (2), June 2024US 322 eb in Corsica, PA (1), June 20242024US 322 eb in Corsica, PA (1), June 2024US 322 eb entering Corsica, PA, June 20242024US 322 eb entering Corsica, PA, June 2024Main Street in2015Main Street inUS Route 322 - Pennsylvania2009US Route 322 - Pennsylvania
On the map

Corsica on the map, 1924 to 1981

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

Corsica on the 1924 USGS mapCorsica on the 1944 USGS mapCorsica on the 1969 USGS mapCorsica on the 1981 USGS map1924Brookville 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 Corsica.

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Corsica’s post office has been open since 1843.

Gone or out of use
Corsica Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Corsica
PisgahSaint Ann Catholic

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Union TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Corsica’s history

What year was Corsica founded?

The Corsica post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1847.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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, 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.