Founding year: the first Etna post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Etna’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Etna is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #375 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Etna’s overall grade.
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 Etna’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 (±7.9 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Etna’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Incorporated in 1868, Etna was named after the Sicilian volcano Mount Etna, an allusion to the blast furnaces, steel mills, galvanized-pipe works, and other manufacturers located there. Historically a blue-color mill town, Etna was home to the Isabella Furnace of Carnegie Steel, built in 1872 and operated until 1953. A second major manufacturing mill, the Etna Iron Works, was established in 1894 and later became Spang Chalfant & Co. in 1910.
Passages that mention Etna, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania1889 · page 181Read the page →
Read the text
Etna Borough. — Gen. Wilkins was the original owner of a large tract of land at the mouth of Pine creek, embracing the present site of Etna. His residence, a large frame structure, was the first house in what afterward became the town. David Anderson purchased the land from him, and laid it off in streets and lots. It early received the name of Stewartstown, from David Stewart, an active citizen, and one of the first after Wilkins.
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
Etna, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
The Etna post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Etna rank for history?
Etna is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #375 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.
How old are the homes in Etna?
48% of Etna’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.9 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1942.
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 (2), the Library of Congress (4), 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.
1939
1939
1941
1941
