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History · Ernest

Ernest’s post office opened in 1903, and 84% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1980.

1903first post office
0on the National Register
84%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ernest’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Ernest began

When was Ernest founded?

1903

The Ernest post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 584 in 19802020 census: 417123 years
Founding year: the first Ernest post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Ernest’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.Old housesHalf of Ernest’s homes were built before 1938.On the map since 19023 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1973. Watch Ernest change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ernest’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ernest’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 viewErnest Mines Railroad Bridge, Spanning …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Ernest came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ernest.

Read it all →

A post office called Ernest was established in 1903 and remained in operation until 1973. Ernest was the first coal town founded by the Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Co. in Indiana County. When Adrian Iselin, the chief stockholder in the Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal & Iron Company, finished inspecting the new mine, he officially changed the name from McKees Mills to Ernest, in honor of his son, who was born in 1876.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

On the map

Ernest on the map, 1902 to 1973

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

Ernest on the 1902 USGS mapErnest on the 1963 USGS mapErnest on the 1973 USGS map1902Indiana 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 Ernest.

Timeline

Ernest, 1902 to 1973

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1903Post officeThe Ernest post office opens
  4. 1931Born hereBernice Gera is born here
  5. 1973Post officeThe Ernest post office closes
By decade

Ernest, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Ernest Mines Railroad Bridge, Spanning McKee Run, at Ernest Mines SiteDate?Ernest Mines Railroad Bridge, Spanning McKee Run, at …
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.

Ernest Mines Railroad Bridge, Spanning McKee Run, at Ernest Mines Site
Retake this viewErnest Mines Railroad Bridge, Spanning McKee Run, at Ernest Mines Site

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Ernest, census by census

0100200300400500600198020002020Peak: 584

Between 417 and 584 people in every census since 1980.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Ernest had its own post office from 1903 to 1973.

Ernest
1903–1973
19001960today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Ernest’s history

What year was Ernest founded?

The Ernest post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.