Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ellsworth. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1901Amity 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 Ellsworth.
The story so far
Ellsworth, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Ellsworth yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Ellsworth is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 947 at the 2020 census. The coal town was founded by James Ellsworth, who bought the land in 1890s, developed the Monongahela Railway, and sold the mines to Bethlehem Steel in the 1920s.
Ellsworth was established in 1900. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,027 to 945 (-8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Ellsworth in 1910
Passages that mention Ellsworth, cut from the printed page as they were published.
20th century history of the city of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania1910 · page 1218Read the page →
Read the text
Valley. He became mine boss at the Ferguson mine in Fayette County, and in 1892 became pit boss of the mines at Smock, in that county, coming from there to Ellsworth in 1901, where he served one year as mine superintendent. In 1902 he returned to Smock as superintendent for the Pittsburg Coal Company and remained there until his return to Ellsworth in 1907. He has become one of the leading citizens of this model
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
20th century history of the city of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania1910 · page 893Read the page →
Read the text
Bryant and Stratton Business College, following which he entered into the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and continued with that corporation for fifteen years. In 1903, Mr. Schlehr eame to Ellsworth and has been prominently identified with its leading interests ever since. This is termed a model mining town. The visitor is astonished to see the neat brick or tile houses for the employes of the four mines situated here, the
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
Ellsworth, 1850 to 1920
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 (2), 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.
2015