Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns · #102 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
30 places in town are on the National Register, among them five historic districts with 161 buildings between them. Below: 20 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1800.
Erie dates its founding to 1795 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1800.
More historic than 96% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Erie is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #102 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.
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 Erie’s 20.9 sits above most of its state (82% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 196 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% 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 country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
6 decades in the archive, from the 1820s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
c. 1860Erie City Water Works; height of stand pipe 23 ft.Alt…
c. 1860Erie, Pennsylvania.Alternate Title: Weber's city views
c. 1860Lake light house, Erie, Pa.Alternate Title: Weber's C…
c. 1860North Park Row, Erie, Pa.Alternate Title: XLNT series…
c. 1860Park Row, west of State St., Erie, Pa.Alternate Title…
1866Erie Harbor, Pennsylvania
1868Erie Harbor, Pennsylvania
1868Erie Harbor, PennsylvaniaFrom Wikipedia’s history of Erie.
Indigenous peoples occupied the shoreline and bluffs in this area for thousands of years, taking advantage of the rich resources. Sommerheim Park Archaeological District in Millcreek Township, west of the city, includes artifacts from the Archaic period in the Americas and the early and middle Woodland Period, roughly a span from 8,000 BCE to 500 CE.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Erie, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Pennsylvania, October 25 th, 1842. Its first meeting was held at Meadville, Pennsylvania, January loth, 1843, Rev. R. S. Lockwood presiding. It embraced all the ministers and churches of the Presbytery of Erie outside the county of Erie, the Presbytery of Erie being confined to Erie county. The Presbytery of Pittsburgh had been organized from the Presbytery of Ohio by the Synod of Pennsylvania soon after the great division.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in the class of 1893. After being admitted to the bar he went to Chicago and in 1895 returned to Waterford, where he gave his attention principally to the mercantile business until 1900, when he took up his residence in the city of Erie, and was admitted to the bar of Erie County. In 1902 he was elected to the office of district attorney of Erie County.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
of education and social improvement of the people among which he has cast his lot. He was a secretary of the Saint John Kanty College Association which built the Saint John Kanty College, south of Wesleyville, near the City of Erie. He was director of the Erie's Community Chest for one term, and he is president of the Community Young Men's Association, an institution which is endeavoring to do work on the east side of the City of Erie after the manner of the Y. M. C. A.
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.
BuiltErie Land Lighthouse is built
In the archiveLong Point, Ontario, and Port Erie, Pennsylvania, from William Chewitt's 1821 map of Uppe…In the archiveErie City Water Works; height of stand pipe 23 ft.Alternate Title: Johnson's stereoscopic…
In the archiveBird's eye view of the city of Erie, Erie County, Pennsylvania 1870
BuiltBoston Store is built
In the archiveKeystone Wringer --about 1885
In the archive1837 Erie, Pennsylvania map
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveCity of Erie (Pennsylvania)
BuiltWarner Theater is built
Born herePaul J. Weitz is born here
BuiltErie Federal Courthouse and Post Office is built
Born hereJoseph D. Pistone is born hereEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Erie. 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 Erie.
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.
1888Sheet 2 of 36Sanborn 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 Erie’s page.
Retake this view · +15Peaked at 138,440 in 1960; 94,831 people lived here in 2020.
23 censuses, 1800–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Erie’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Erie’s post office has been open since 1811. Another post office, Wayne, 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).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1795, according to Wikidata. Erie’s post office opened in 1811, and the census of 1800 counted 81 people here.
Erie is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns, #102 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.
30 listings: 25 buildings, among them the Cashier's House (listed 1972, the first), 5 historic districts with 161 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 196 historic buildings in all.
39% of Erie’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1949.
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 (16), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (31), 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.
1870
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1897![Penna. Ry. [Pennsylvania Railroad], coal trestle](https://images.townratings.com/story/15565/8e4bcde3bf1b79a0dd50-s.jpg)
1900
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