Donora’s post office opened in 1900, and 50% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 76% of U.S. towns · #375 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 80 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Donora post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Donora’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Donora is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #375 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Donora’s overall grade.
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 Donora’s 177 sits above most of its state (91% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 80 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 →
What stands out about Donora’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1794, the Whiskey Insurrectionists held several meetings at Fells Church, approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Donora.
A trolley line opened in Donora on December 15, 1901, linking First and McKean, and Fifteenth Street and Meldon. It was extended in 1911 to Black Diamond to connect to the Charleroi to Pittsburgh interurban trolley. The line was abandoned on May 5, 1953.
Passages that mention Donora, cut from the printed page as they were published.
20th century history of the city of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania1910 · page 827Read the page →
Read the text
He then engaged in the dairy business, shipping milk to Homestead, Pa., but since the erection of the town of Donora has been running a retail wagon, and is the pioneer dairyman of Donora. He operates the bu.siness under the name of the Donora Dairy, sells an average of 100 gallons of milk per day, owns 20 head of cows and has milk shipped in from various surrounding points.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
20th century history of the city of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania1910 · page 1004Read the page →
Read the text
and was a captain on the Ohio and Monongahela Rivers for fifteen years, during part of which time he was a resident of Pittsburg. He subsequently returned to the Castner farm, which, when the town of Donora was laid out in 1900, became the center of the town. That same year he and his son, James P. Castner, engaged in the real estate business at Donora, operating under the firm name of B. W. Castner & Son, and continued
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
Donora, 1900 to 1969
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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.
The Donora post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Donora rank for history?
Donora is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #375 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.
What is on the National Register in Donora?
Two places: the Webster Donora Bridge (listed 1988) and the Cement City Historic District (1996).
How old are the homes in Donora?
50% of Donora’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1940.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
1901
2012
