Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1953 on and the census since 1880.
Gordon dates its founding to 1856 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Gordon’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Gordon.
The community is named after David F. Gordon, a judge. The post office at Gordon was established July 15, 1858, with J. Faust as the first postmaster.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Peaked at 1,194 in 1890; 761 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Gordon’s Wikipedia page.
Passages that mention Gordon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Gordon half tossed, half laid the infant on the bed and motioned bis wife toward it. She sprang forward and caught it up in her arms. At the same moment Gordon swiftly stepped behind her, and thence to the door which he closed and locked, and then put the key in his pocket. Half stupefied Mary gazed at the man while he stood and contemplated her with a grin of sardonic triumph upon his features. At length he spoke: “Well, how do you think you will like your uew quarters?”
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
and the postoffice, Mr. Faust being then in service as the first postmaster of Ashland. For eight years he was in the employ of Mr. Faust, and during that period opened for him the first store established in Gordon. Then he came to Girardville, in 1862. and entered business as a teamster, hauling coal from the old Preston No. I colliery to Preston No. 3, from which place it was shipped.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
he settled down to the peaceful vocations of life. He was in the livery business for a year, when a lucrative position was tendered to him in the employ of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company, and he was storekeeper and yardmaster at Gordon for two or three years. Resigning this position in 1868, he came to Pottsville and engaged in working at his trade and as a contractor in Digitized by Google
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Thomas C. McAndrew first attended the Cressona schools and later those at Ashland, the family moving to that place in 1853. In 1868 Mr. McAndrew came to Gordon and went to work in the colliery, later engaging in railroad work. He first held the position of brakeman, and was successively promoted to conductor, fireman and engineer, acting in the latter capacity for twentytwo years. On May 12, 19 14, he retired from railroad work, and is now residing in his handsome home in Gordon.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
2015War Memorial, Gordon PA 04
2015War Memorial, Gordon PA 03
2015War Memorial, Gordon PA 02
2015War Memorial, Gordon PA 01
2015Simpson UMC, Gordon PA 02
2015Simpson UMC, Gordon PA 01
2015Post Office
2015McKnight St, Gordon PA 03
2015McKnight St, Gordon PA 02
2015Hobart St, Gordon PA 02
2015Hobart St, Gordon PA 01
2015Gordon, Pennsylvania
2015Gordon Municipal Bldg, Schuylkill Co PA 04
2015Gordon Municipal Bldg, Schuylkill Co PA 03
2015Gordon Municipal Bldg, Schuylkill Co PA 02
2015Gordon Municipal Bldg, Schuylkill Co PA 01
2015Citizens Fire Co No 1
2015Biddle St, Gordon PA 06
2015Biddle St, Gordon PA 05
2015Biddle St, Gordon PA 04
2015Biddle St, Gordon PA 02Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Gordon. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Gordon.
Nobody well known was born in Gordon itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
In 1856, according to Wikidata. Gordon’s post office opened in 1858, and the census of 1880 counted 753 people here.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (21), Wikipedia, 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.
