Greenville dates to 1819, and 47% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 97% of U.S. towns · #93 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 48 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1870.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1828.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Greenville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Greenville is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #93 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 Greenville’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 Greenville’s 86.9 sits above most of its state (88% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 48 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1819.
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 (±8.2 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 Greenville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
Greenville was known for its manufacturing interests, including railroad shops, bridge works, gristmills, a cement-block plant, an automobile factory, foundries and machine shops, saw and planing mills, steelworks, a railroad-car manufacturer, and flour mills. Water power was supplied by the Shenango River.
In 1900, 4,814 people lived in Greenville. That number rose to 5,909 by 1910, and stood at 10,000 in 1940. In 1950 there were 9,210 residents of Greenville. By 2000, the census showed a decline in population to 6,380.
Passages that mention Greenville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania1888 · page 793Read the page →
Read the text
George H. Geauel, dealer in books, stationery, etc., was born in Pittsburgh, Penn., March 25, 1862, and is a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Nippert) Grauel, he a native of Bavaria, Germany, and she of Pittsburgh. In 1863 his parents came to Greenville, subsequently returning to Pittsburgh, where they remained a year or two and again located in Greenville, where his father is now engaged in the bakery and confectionery business. Our subject was educated in the public schools of Greenville, and at the age of seventeen began clerking in a book and stationery store of the borough. He continued
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania1888 · page 413Read the page →
Read the text
Greenville was incorporated into a borough May 29, 1837, in compliance with a petition signed by sixty-eight citizens of the village, and presented to the court in December, 1836. The town had then, according to the petition, 495 inhabitants. The first election was held at the house of Col. Bean, on the third Monday of June, 1837. The following is the list of officials controlling the destiny of Greenville for the past fifty-one years. It is taken from the records, and is complete except for the year 1844, which is missing from the minute book, where strong evidence exists to prove that if there was
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
Greenville, 1816 to 1950
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.
In 1819, according to Wikidata. Greenville’s post office opened in 1828, and the census of 1870 counted 1,848 people here.
How does Greenville rank for history?
Greenville is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #93 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 Greenville?
One place: the Greenville Commercial Historic District (listed 2000).
How old are the homes in Greenville?
47% of Greenville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.2 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1943.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
1923
1923
