Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Harmar Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
CHistory
History · Harmar Township

Harmar Township dates to 1875, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 32% of U.S. towns · #932 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1970.

1875founded
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Harmar Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Harmar Township began

When was Harmar Township founded?

1875

Harmar Township dates its founding to 1875 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1970.

First census: 3,916 in 19702020 census: 3,133151 years

How historic is Harmar Township?

C

More historic than 32% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1851.
History grade

What drives Harmar Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Harmar Township is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #932 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 Harmar Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1875, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194012.9% of homes (±5.8) · 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 32%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 10%

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 Harmar Township’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.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1875.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.8 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 Harmar Township’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.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Harmar Township, and 4 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19086 editions of the USGS map, 1908 to 1993. Watch Harmar Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Harmar Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHarmerville [sic]: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Harmarville
1851–1955
Armstrong
1880–1887
Acmetonia
1887–1891
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AcmetoniaHarmar HeightsHarmarvilleRiver Valley
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Harmar Township
Deer CreekHenderson

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

On the map

Harmar Township on the map, 1908 to 1993

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

Harmar Township on the 1908 USGS mapHarmar Township on the 1910 USGS mapHarmar Township on the 1953 USGS mapHarmar Township on the 1960 USGS mapHarmar Township on the 1979 USGS mapHarmar Township 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 Harmar Township.

The story so far

Harmar Township, in brief

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

Harmar Township is a township in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It contains the communities of Acmetonia, Harmarville, Harmar Heights, and Chapel Downs. The population was 3,136 at the 2020 census. The township was named after Harmar Denny, a U.S. congressman and son of Ebenezer Denny.

Harmar Township was established in 1875. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,921 to 3,133 (+7%).

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

Timeline

Harmar Township, 1851 to 1955

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1851Post officeThe Harmarville post office opens
  3. 1875
    FoundingHarmar Township is established
  4. 1875In the archiveHarmerville [sic]
  5. 1880Post officeThe Armstrong post office opens
  6. 1887Post officeThe Armstrong post office closes
  7. 1887Post officeThe Acmetonia post office opens
  8. 1891Post officeThe Acmetonia post office closes
  9. 20th century
  10. 1908On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1955Post officeThe Harmarville post office closes
By decade

Harmar Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s1 item
Harmerville [sic]1875Harmerville [sic]
Today5 recent
GiantEagleExpress2014GiantEagleExpressU-PARCHarmar2008U-PARCHarmarAllegheny Islands State Park2008Allegheny Islands State ParkAllegheny Islands State Park, C.W. Bill Young Lock and Dam2007Allegheny Islands State Park, C.W. Bill Young Lock an…Map of Allegheny County PA Highlighting2007Map of Allegheny County PA HighlightingMap
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.

Harmerville [sic]
Retake this viewHarmerville [sic], 1875

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Harmar Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,000198020002020Peak: 3,916

Between 2,921 and 3,916 people in every census since 1970.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Harmar Township

Nobody well known was born in Harmar Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Stephanie L. KwolekAmerican chemist, inventor of Kevlar · b. 1923
Eddie AdamsAmerican photographer · b. 1933
Evelyn NesbitAmerican model and actress · b. 1884
George KarlAmerican basketball player and coach · b. 1951
Buddy JeannetteAmerican basketball player and coach · b. 1917
Pat McAfeeAmerican football player and businessman · b. 1987
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Indiana TownshipIts storyBOakmont2 historic placesB+Plum2 historic placesB+Fox ChapelIts storyC−Cheswick1 historic placeBO'Hara Township1 historic placeBHarwickIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSpringdale TownshipIts storyB

Questions about Harmar Township’s history

What year was Harmar Township founded?

In 1875, according to Wikidata. Harmar Township’s post office opened in 1851, and the census of 1970 counted 3,916 people here.

How does Harmar Township rank for history?

Harmar Township is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #932 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 Harmar Township?

13% of Harmar Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1965.

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 (6), Wikidata (1), 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.