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Old Route 22 - panoramio (5)Photo: Ron Shawley · CC BY 3.0
B+History
History · Duncansville

Duncansville dates to 1831, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1890.

1831founded
0on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Duncansville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Duncansville began

When was Duncansville founded?

1831

Duncansville dates its founding to 1831 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1890.

First census: 1,277 in 18902020 census: 1,255195 years

How historic is Duncansville?

B+

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1836.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Duncansville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Duncansville is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Duncansville’s overall grade.
Founding era1831, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194032.6% of homes (±8.4) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%ANational RegisterNo listings counted · typical PA town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 72%
NewerOlder

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 Duncansville’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.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.4 points). Two sources give 1831.

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 Duncansville’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19023 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1972. Watch Duncansville change.Deep rootsEstablished in 1831: 195 years of Duncansville.Old housesHalf of Duncansville’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Duncansville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewPennsylvania Railroad, Allegheny Tunnel…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Duncansville on the map, 1902 to 1972

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

Duncansville on the 1902 USGS mapDuncansville on the 1963 USGS mapDuncansville on the 1972 USGS map1902Hollidaysburg 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 Duncansville.

Timeline

Duncansville, 1831 to 1902

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1831
    FoundingDuncansville is established
  3. 1836Post officeThe Duncansville post office opens
  4. 1869Born hereRobert Gibson is born here
  5. 1876Born hereCharles Yon is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Duncansville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Duncansville.

Read it all →

In 1830, Samuel Duncan, recognizing the excellent possibilities for land development, purchased land on the western banks of the stream which traversed the area and plotted a town, which he named Duncansville. About the same time, Jacob Walters laid out plots of land on the eastern side of the stream and called his settlement Walterstown. Confusion and some rivalry existed between the two settlements. Both Duncan and Walters agreed that a common name should be used for the two places. They decided to cast lots to select the name to be used. The people of both settlements declared a holiday and arranged quite a celebration for the occasion. All assembled at the wooden bridge separating the two towns. A coin was tossed and fortune favored Duncan, thereby uniting the two communities under the name of Duncansville.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Duncansville, 1880–1911

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

It was completed to Altoona from the east, single track, on the same line as now in 1850 and extended from here to the Y switches near Duncansville and one mile from Hollidaysburg, and from there trains ran over the Alleg*heny mountains on the Old Portage, a state institution completed in 1833. The…
Twentieth century history of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania1911 · page 287Read the page →
Read the text

It was completed to Altoona from the east, single track, on the same line as now in 1850 and extended from here to the Y switches near Duncansville and one mile from Hollidaysburg, and from there trains ran over the Alleg*heny mountains on the Old Portage, a state institution completed in 1833. The Altoona passenger station stood near the corner

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Colonel Scott had entered the service of the company as station agent at Duncansville, Blair county, in 1850, Duncansville being then the western terminus of the road, from whence he was transferred to the western division as its superintendent. It was there he displayed that wonderful executive ab…
Twentieth century history of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania1911 · page 126Read the page →
Read the text

Colonel Scott had entered the service of the company as station agent at Duncansville, Blair county, in 1850, Duncansville being then the western terminus of the road, from whence he was transferred to the western division as its superintendent. It was there he displayed that wonderful executive ability and indomitable energy which have

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Newry (a borough) and Duncansville are towns containing between 300 or 400 inhabitants each. The other towns of the county are small settlements from fifty to one hundred inhabitants, all of which contain post offices. Their names appear in the list of post offices of the county, as follows: POST O…
History of the city of Altoona and Blair County1880 · page 250Read the page →
Read the text

Newry (a borough) and Duncansville are towns containing between 300 or 400 inhabitants each. The other towns of the county are small settlements from fifty to one hundred inhabitants, all of which contain post offices. Their names appear in the list of post offices of the county, as follows: POST OFFICES IN BLAIR COUNTY.

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.

By decade

Duncansville, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Pennsylvania Railroad, Allegheny Tunnel, Beneath Allegheny Mountain, east of Railroad Street, Gallitzin, Cambria County…Date?Pennsylvania Railroad, Allegheny Tunnel, Beneath Alle…
Today6 recent
Duncansville, PA borough hall, May 20242024Duncansville, PA borough hall, May 2024Old Route 222015Old Route 22Old Route 22 - panoramio (7)2015Old Route 22 - panoramio (7)Old Route 22 - panoramio (5)2015Old Route 22 - panoramio (5)Old Route 22 - panoramio (2)2015Old Route 22 - panoramio (2)Old Route 22 - panoramio (10)2015Old Route 22 - panoramio (10)
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.

Pennsylvania Railroad, Allegheny Tunnel, Beneath Allegheny Mountain, east of Railroad Street, Gallitzin, Cambria County…
Retake this viewPennsylvania Railroad, Allegheny Tunnel, Beneath Allegheny Mountain, east of Railroad Street, Gallitzin, Cambria County…

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Duncansville’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Duncansville, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,512

Between 1,230 and 1,512 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Duncansville

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Robert GibsonAmerican judge and baseball player · b. 1869
C
Charles YonAmerican football player and coach · b. 1876
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Allegheny TownshipIts storyB−SunbrookIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBlair TownshipIts storyCPenn FarmsIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Duncansville’s history

What year was Duncansville founded?

In 1831, according to Wikidata. Duncansville’s post office opened in 1836, and the census of 1890 counted 1,277 people here.

How does Duncansville rank for history?

Duncansville is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. 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.

How old are the homes in Duncansville?

33% of Duncansville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.4 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1959.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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 (6), the Library of Congress (1), 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.