Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 55% of U.S. towns · #675 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1880.
Derry dates its founding to 1852 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 55% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Derry is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #675 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. 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 Derry’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 Derry’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Derry. 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 Derry.
Peaked at 3,752 in 1950; 2,639 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Derry’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Derry.
Derry is said to be the site of a 1791 Indian attack on the Mitchell family, who lived two miles east of Latrobe, "on the line of the Ligonier Valley Railroad." A 17-year-old boy was captured and held by the Indians for three years, after which he returned to his home in Derry.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Derry, cut from the printed page as they were published.
an apprentice, after which he was appointed to the position of fireman on the Pennsylvania Railroad for a short time, and then was advanced to the position of roundhouse foreman at Everson, Pennsylvania. He was then transferred to Derry, and later to Altoona, still in the same capacity. He was advanced to the position of master mechanic in 1896, and was stationed at Tyrone, where he is at present (1906). He is progressive and enterprising, and while in Altoona served as water commissioner. He is a member of all the different Masonic bodies in Altoona, and of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Free-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
ling, was born at the old homestead in Derry township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, June i6, 1855. He obtained a common school education, and followed farming on the home farm until 1887, when, upon his marriage, he farmed three years in Derry township, near the old place, and for six years in Salem township. In 1896 he was -made police ofiftcer for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Derry, serving three years, when he was elected as chief of police for the borough of Latrobe, his present home, and is still filling the position with full credit tO' himself and all law-abiding citizens of
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.
In the archiveDerry Station PA 1900 BEye View
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereJames Patterson is born here
Born hereHerbert Boyer is born here
Born hereMark Dorazio is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
1891Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn 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 Derry’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Derry’s post office has been open since 1906. Another post office, Derry Station, 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).
In 1852, according to Wikidata. Derry’s post office opened in 1867, and the census of 1880 counted 755 people here.
Derry is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #675 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. 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.
47% of Derry’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1942.
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 (5), 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, 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.
1900
1900
2014
2008