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2012The story
Read it all →How DuBois came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of DuBois.
Settled in 1812 and platted in 1872, DuBois was incorporated as a borough in 1881 and as a city in 1914.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A+History
History · DuBois
DuBois dates to 1812, and 43% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns · #98 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 54 buildings. Below: 16 old photos and papers, maps from 1924 on, and the census since 1880.
1812founded
1on the National Register
43%homes built before 1940
16old photos & papers
Quick answers
How DuBois began
When was DuBois founded?
1812
DuBois dates its founding to 1812 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
First census: 2,718 in 18802020 census: 7,510214 years
How historic is DuBois?
A+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 96% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1874.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives DuBois’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, DuBois is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #98 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of DuBois’ overall grade.
Founding era1812, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194043.0% of homes (±6.1) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%A+National Register1 listing, 54 historic buildings, 73.0 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 96%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 91%
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 DuBois’ 73.0 sits above most of its state (87% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 54 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1812.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.1 points).
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 →
What stands out about DuBois’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · On the National Register
1 listing protects 54 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
54
each building in a district counts
first listed
1997
Dubois Historic District
Districts
Architectural styles listings
Italianate1
Gothic Revival1
Romanesque Revival1
Tudor Revival1
Neo-Classical Revival1
Victorian1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
DuBois, census by census
Peaked at 13,681 in 1920; 7,510 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on DuBois’ Wikipedia page.
By decade
DuBois, decade by decade
5 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1880s–1890s8 items
18801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania …
18801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania …
18801950 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania …
1895Du Bois, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, 1895
1895Du Bois, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, 1895
1895DuBois PA BEye View 1895
1895DuBois, Clearfield County Pennsylvania., 1895
1895DuBois, Clearfield County Pennsylvania., 18951900s–1910s7 items
1950s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your albumFrom the old history books
What they wrote about DuBois in 1911
Passages that mention DuBois, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Twentieth century history of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania1911 · page 633Read the page →
Read the text
In the spring of 1873 he began to improve his property in Clearfield county, which at that lime was mostly a wilderness. The site of the now thriving village of DuBois then contained only three houses. Here he built several sawmills of large capacity, with other machinery for cutting shingles, packing-boxes, dressing lumber, framing timber, etc., together with a
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Twentieth century history of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania1911 · page 519Read the page →
Read the text
ticeship to it at Woburn, Mass. Subsequently he established a small tannery of his own, at Boliver, N. Y., which he sold in 1884 and then came to DuBois, where he entered into partnership with a brother and John DuBois, in the tanning business, which was carried on until 1899 under the firm style of DuBois & Van Tassel Bros.
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
DuBois, 1812 to 1940
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1812FoundingDuBois is established
- 1874Post officeThe Rumbarger post office opens
- 1876Post officeThe Rumbarger post office closes
- 1876Post officeThe Du Bois post office opens
- 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Clearfield County - Dubois - ED 17…
- 1895In the archiveDu Bois, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, 1895
- 20th century
- 1902
In the archiveDuBois Mansion - pre1902 - 1911
In the archiveCommercial Hotel, Du Bois, PA - 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 13,681
- 1924
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1940
In the archiveWashing eggs to be sold at Tri-County Farmers Co-op Market at Du Bois, Pennsylvania on Re…
On the map
DuBois on the map, 1924 to 1981
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of DuBois. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1924Du Bois sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of DuBois.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Clearfield County - Dubois - ED 17-35 - ED 17-45, 1880
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on DuBois’ page.
Retake this view · +15Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Another post office, Rumbarger, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Rumbarger
Du Bois
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Du Bois
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside DuBois
RumbargerSaint Catherine of Siena
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Finish DuBois’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about DuBois’ history
What year was DuBois founded?
In 1812, according to Wikidata. DuBois’ post office opened in 1874, and the census of 1880 counted 2,718 people here.
How does DuBois rank for history?
DuBois is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #98 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 DuBois?
One place: the Dubois Historic District (listed 1997).
How old are the homes in DuBois?
43% of DuBois’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1948.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (23), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.