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–Not graded
History · Glenshaw

Glenshaw’s post office opened in 1858, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1908 on, and old-book passages.

1858first post office
1on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Glenshaw’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Glenshaw began

When was Glenshaw founded?

1858

The Glenshaw post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 8,945168 years
Founding year: the first Glenshaw post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Glenshaw’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.On the map since 19086 editions of the USGS map, 1908 to 1993. Watch Glenshaw change.Old housesHalf of Glenshaw’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Glenshaw’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Glenshaw’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewGlenshaw PA Presby PHS236: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Glenshaw on the map, 1908 to 1993

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

Glenshaw on the 1908 USGS mapGlenshaw on the 1910 USGS mapGlenshaw on the 1953 USGS mapGlenshaw on the 1960 USGS mapGlenshaw on the 1979 USGS mapGlenshaw on the 1993 USGS map1908New Kensington 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 Glenshaw.

The story so far

Glenshaw, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Glenshaw yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Glenshaw is a census-designated place within Shaler, Hampton, Indiana, O'Hara and Ross townships in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 8,945.

Its first post office opened in 1858. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 8,981 in 2010, 8,945 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Glenshaw in 1889

Passages that mention Glenshaw, cut from the printed page as they were published.

The township is traversed by the Butler plank-road, the Western Pennsylvania, Evergreen and Pittsburgh & Western railroads. The stations on the latter are known as Undercliff, Witmer, Glenshaw, Coaldale and Elfenwild. Glenshaw was formerly known as Shaw's Mills. The ironworks at Etna were formerly …
History of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania1889 · page 181Read the page →
Read the text

The township is traversed by the Butler plank-road, the Western Pennsylvania, Evergreen and Pittsburgh & Western railroads. The stations on the latter are known as Undercliff, Witmer, Glenshaw, Coaldale and Elfenwild. Glenshaw was formerly known as Shaw's Mills. The ironworks at Etna were formerly supplied with coal from this place, and the population thus attracted forms a small village. A Presbyterian mission was established here in 1879.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The township is traversed by the Butler plank-road, the Western Pennsylvania, Evergreen and Pittsburgh & Western railroads. The stations on the latter are known as Undercliff, Witmer, Glenshaw, Coaldale and Elfenwild. Glenshaw was formerly known as Shaw’s Mills. The ironworks at Etna were formerly …
History of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania1889 · page 181Read the page →
Read the text

The township is traversed by the Butler plank-road, the Western Pennsylvania, Evergreen and Pittsburgh & Western railroads. The stations on the latter are known as Undercliff, Witmer, Glenshaw, Coaldale and Elfenwild. Glenshaw was formerly known as Shaw’s Mills. The ironworks at Etna were formerly supplied with coal from this place, and the population thus attracted forms a small village. A Presbyterian mission was established here in 1879.

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

Glenshaw, 1903 to 1923

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1903Born hereMargaret Fay Shaw is born here
  3. 1908On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1923In the archiveGlenshaw PA Presby PHS236
By decade

Glenshaw, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
Glenshaw PA Presby PHS2361923Glenshaw PA Presby PHS236
1930s–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
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.

Glenshaw PA Presby PHS236
Retake this viewGlenshaw PA Presby PHS236, 1923

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Glenshaw

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Allison Park1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townShaler Township3 historic placesA−Hampton TownshipIts storyC−

Questions about Glenshaw’s history

What year was Glenshaw founded?

The Glenshaw post office opened in 1858, 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 Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.