Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1882.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Evans City’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Evans City is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns. 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 Evans City’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 Evans City’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.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1830.
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 (±7.5 points).
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 Evans City’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The site that is now Evans City was for a long time a camping ground for Native Americans, who named the creek that ran through it Big Beaver Run, while the French knew it as Casse-cou-anse or "Breakneck Creek", a name adopted by travelers between Fort Duquesne and Fort Machault, and by the English-speaking pioneers of the original township of Connoquenessing. From 1804 to 1836, the location was often called "Boggs' Mill", and in later years "Evansburg", after Thomas B. Evans, who purchased and rebuilt the original Boggs' Mill. In 1880 it was a little hamlet, credited with a population of 68 people. In 1890, there were 637 persons enumerated in the census, and at the beginning of 1894, it was generally credited with a population of approximately 1,000.
Passages that mention Evans City, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Butler County Pennsylvania1927 · page 562Read the page →
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Evans City, formerly called Evansboro, or Evansburg, dates back as a settlement to the pioneer days, when it was known as Boggs’ Mill. It was surveyed and laid out by William Purviance for Thomas B. Evans, for whom it was named, in 1838, and was thereafter known as Evansburg and Evansboro. Its growth was slow and uncertain until the coming of the railroad in 1878, since which time its growth has been rapid. The borough is located on Breakneck Creek, lying partly in Jackson and partly in Forward Township. Before any
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Butler County Pennsylvania1927 · page 260Read the page →
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olson’s, and the fifth Alexander’s, the dividing line between the two being about four miles east of the western boundary of the county, and dividing the townships of Cranberry, Jackson, Lancaster and Muddycreek. Evans City is in Nicholson’s District, and the towns of Harmony and Zelienople and the village of Middle Lancaster are in Alexander’s District. Other districts were created in a similar manner extending to the western boundary of the state, as has been
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History of Butler County, Pennsylvania.1895 · page 397Read the page →
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agricultural township, it contains the old town of Harmony, where the Harmony Society made their first settlement in America; the boroughs ol Zelienople and Evans City, and the villages of Eidenau and Ramsdale. The township abounds in coal, which has been mined from the pioneer days to the present, and in extensive deposits of iron ore and limestone. The people of the township are thriftv, industrious and prosperous.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The tirst mill at Evans City was erected in 1804 by Robert Boggs, a short distance above the present mill. It was a rude log affair, even for the first years of the century, but the two sets of buhrs were kept busy, and the miller was satisfied. It is said that Andrew Boggs tore down the old concern and erected a frame building for grist and saw-mill purposes upon the site of the present mill.
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
Evans City, 1830 to 1989
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
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.
In 1830, according to Wikidata. Evans City’s post office opened in 1882, and the census of 1890 counted 637 people here.
How does Evans City rank for history?
Evans City is more historic than 76% 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 Evans City?
45% of Evans City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1952.
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 (18), 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.
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