Girard’s post office opened in 1835, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 95% of U.S. towns · #112 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 31 buildings. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1898 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: the first Girard post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1846.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Girard’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Girard is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns, #112 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.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Girard’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 Girard’s 105 sits above most of its state (89% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 31 historic buildings outnumber those of 82% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±13.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1846 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Girard’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
Girard's history began with a petition to "Township Status" in 1832 by reassigning lands previously allocated to neighboring municipalities (Springfield, Fairview, and Elk Creek). The name is in honor of Stephen Girard, a banking tycoon of the late 1700s and early 1800s. Stephen Girard, a resident of Philadelphia at that time, was chosen for a variety of reasons. He owned much of the neighboring Springfield Township, and had been admired by the residents in the region. Additionally, Girard officials had been lobbying with Stephen Girard's foundation, upon his death in 1831, to be the site of the bequeathed Girard College. Despite this attempt, his family and will executors chose to establish the boarding school in Philadelphia where Stephen Girard had a long-standing tradition as a local philanthropist.
Passages that mention Girard, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Erie county, Pennsylvania1884 · page 842Read the page →
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The pretty and growing village of Miles Grove, or Girard Station, as it is known to the traveling public, is situated on the Lake Shore Railroad, a little over a mile east of the intersection of the Erie & Pittsburgh, one and threequarter miles north of Girard, fifteen and a half west of Erie and eighty east of Cleveland. It is four and a half miles from the depot to Pairview Station, five to Fairview Borough, six to Lockport, five to East Springfield, four to North Springfield, ten to Cranesville, eleven to Wellsburg, eleven and a half to Albion and twelve to Franklin. The population of the village by
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Erie county, Pennsylvania1884 · page 759Read the page →
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the Ridge road, three miles south from the lake, two and a half from North Springfield, on the Like Shore Railroad, one and a half west of Cross's Station, on the Erie & Pittsburgh Railroad, four and a half southwest of Miles Grove, five west of Girard, and twenty-one by common road from Brie. The country around is the best portion of the township, and the village is the largest settlement. East Springfield comprises three churches, one academy, one hotel, one general store, two groceries, one hardware store, one millinery store, one drug store, one harness shop, one tailor shop, one meat market, one wagon
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Nelson's biographical dictionary and historical reference book of Erie County, Pennsylvania1896 · page 311Read the page →
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schoolhouse about three-quarters of a mile south of the village of Lockport. About 1822 school was taught in a frame building on the Ridge road at the foot of Girard Hill. Another was held in a private house, one mile east of Girard about 1823.
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Nelson's biographical dictionary and historical reference book of Erie County, Pennsylvania1896 · page 315Read the page →
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The hotels of Girard borough are the Avenue House, finished in 1879, and the Rhodes House, which has been in operation forty years. Girard has been unfortunate in the matter of hotel buildings, the old Girard House, which occupied the site of the present Avenue House, and the Central House of Joshua Evans, which stood on the east side of
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
Girard, 1833 to 1943
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Girard post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1846.
How does Girard rank for history?
Girard is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns, #112 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.
What is on the National Register in Girard?
One place: the Girard Commercial Historic District (listed 2023).
How old are the homes in Girard?
36% of Girard’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±13.1 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1955.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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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