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C+History
History · Farrell

Farrell dates to 1899, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 41% of U.S. towns · #852 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it

Below: 19 old photos and papers, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1910.

1899founded
0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
19old photos & papers
10famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Farrell’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Farrell began

When was Farrell founded?

1899

Farrell dates its founding to 1899 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 10,190 in 19102020 census: 4,258127 years

How historic is Farrell?

C+

More historic than 41% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1903.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Farrell’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Farrell is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #852 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Farrell’s overall grade.
Founding era1899, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194020.5% of homes (±6.2) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%B+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical PA town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 41%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 18%

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 Farrell’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 C− to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.2 points). Two sources give 1899.

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 Farrell’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A town in old photos19 old photos, postcards and papers, 1915–1941.Boom and bustPeaked at 15,586 in 1920; 4,258 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Farrell’s homes were built before 1956.Famous sons and daughtersBilly Soose, Duke Mitchell and 8 more were born here.
★ What stands out · By decade

Farrell, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1940s19 items
System Index Map1915System Index MapMapBalkan Bakery Advertisement 19201920Balkan Bakery Advertisement 1920Carnegie Gate1920Carnegie GateSteel production. The steel industry poised for wartime demands. Huge ore piles await feeding to hungry blast furnaces.…1941Steel production. The steel industry poised for warti…Steel Production. Production of iron for steel making tops all world records. An Eastern blast furnace swells the volum…1941Steel Production. Production of iron for steel making…Tank armor production. Abrasive cleaning operators who prepare mill plates for processing into tank armor must wear pro…1941Tank armor production. Abrasive cleaning operators wh…Tank armor production. Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation. Farrell, Pennsylvania. Rivet holes for the armor plates of …1941Tank armor production. Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corpor…Steel production. The gas main and gas valve chambers of a blast furnace serve important purposes in the production of …1941Steel production. The gas main and gas valve chambers…Tank armor production. Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation. Farrell, Pennsylvania. Moving tank armor for our fighting f…1941Tank armor production. Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corpor…Steel production. More iron for steel production. Hot molten metal flows from the tap hole into a trough at a big Easte…1941Steel production. More iron for steel production. Hot…Steel production. A gas main and air pipe serving a group of Eastern blast furnaces contributes in important ways to th…1941Steel production. A gas main and air pipe serving a g…Tank armor production. Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation. Farrell, Pennsylvania. Large mill plates for the making of …1941Tank armor production. Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corpor…Steel production. American blast furnaces are breaking all records these days. The iron they produce will be converted …1941Steel production. American blast furnaces are breakin…Steel production. American blast furnaces are breaking all records these days. The iron they produce will be converted …1941Steel production. American blast furnaces are breakin…Tank armor production. Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation. Farrell, Pennsylvania. Cutting tools for planers in an armo…1941Tank armor production. Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corpor…Tank armor Production. Brake presses flatten each piece of tank armor plate after flame-cutting and before machining. E…1941Tank armor Production. Brake presses flatten each pie…Tank armor production. Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation. Farrell, Pennsylvania. A few minutes of well-earned rest fo…1941Tank armor production. Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corpor…Steel production. Iron for the sinews of war. Huge ore piles feed the hungry maws of the blast furnaces. From the iron …1941Steel production. Iron for the sinews of war. Huge or…Tank armor production. Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation. Farrell, Pennsylvania. Armor plate press operator. The man …1941Tank armor production. Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corpor…
1950s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today3 recent
PA 718 sb in Farrell, June 20242024PA 718 sb in Farrell, June 2024Independent Draft Gear and its neighbors2017Independent Draft Gear and its neighborsFirst Baptist Church of2017First Baptist Church of
People over time

Farrell, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 15,586

Peaked at 15,586 in 1920; 4,258 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Farrell came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Farrell.

Read it all →

Once dubbed "The Magic City," Farrell sprang up practically overnight when a steel mill was constructed in 1901 on a plain bordering the Shenango River, near Sharon, in what was then part of Hickory Township (now Hermitage).

The community name was at the beginning South Sharon. In 1912, the population reached 10,000. At that time, the residents of the new city elected to take the name of Farrell, after industrialist James A. Farrell.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Farrell, 1899 to 1990

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1899
    FoundingFarrell is established
  3. 20th century
  4. 1903Post officeThe South Sharon post office opens
  5. 1905On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1912Post officeThe South Sharon post office closes
  7. 1912Post officeThe Farrell post office opens
  8. 1915In the archiveSystem Index Map
  9. 1915Born hereBilly Soose is born here
  10. 1920In the archiveBalkan Bakery Advertisement 1920
  11. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 15,586
  12. 1926Born hereDuke Mitchell is born here
  13. 1927Born hereMarc L. Marks is born here
  14. 1941In the archiveSteel production. The steel industry poised for wartime demands. Huge ore piles await fee…
  15. 1990Born hereMike Adams is born here
On the map

Farrell on the map in 1905

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Farrell.

Farrell on the 1905 USGS map1905Neshannock 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 Farrell.

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.

Balkan Bakery Advertisement 1920
Retake this viewBalkan Bakery Advertisement 1920, 1920

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

10 famous people were born in Farrell

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Billy SooseAmerican boxer · b. 1915
Duke MitchellSinger, actor, director · b. 1926
Marc L. MarksAmerican politician · b. 1927
Mike AdamsAmerican gridiron football player · b. 1990
J
John BosakAmerican basketball player · b. 1922
Alverna BennettFirst American pilot with disabilities to earn … · b. 1918
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Farrell’s post office has been open since 1912. Another post office, South Sharon, opened and closed inside today’s town.

South Sharon
1903–1912
Farrell
1912–today
19001960today
1cemetery inside Farrell
Saint Elizabeths

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

Help out

Finish Farrell’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBalkan Bakery Advertisement 1920: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Hermitage1 historic placeBSharon1 historic placeA

Questions about Farrell’s history

What year was Farrell founded?

In 1899, according to Wikidata. Farrell’s post office opened in 1903, and the census of 1910 counted 10,190 people here.

How does Farrell rank for history?

Farrell is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #852 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 Farrell?

21% of Farrell’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1956.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (5), the Library of Congress (17), 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.