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History · Heilwood

Heilwood’s post office opened in 1904, and 62% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1902 on and old-book passages.

1904first post office
0on the National Register
62%homes built before 1940
2famous people
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Quick answers

How Heilwood began

When was Heilwood founded?

1904

The Heilwood post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 318122 years
Founding year: the first Heilwood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Heilwood’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Heilwood are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Heilwood’s homes were built before 1938.On the map since 19023 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1972. Watch Heilwood change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Heilwood’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Heilwood came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Heilwood.

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In 1850, a portion of Wheatfield Township (located in Indiana County, Pennsylvania) was sectioned off to create Pine Township, named for its extensive pine forests. Here, J. M. Guthrie established a logging settlement consisting of five frame houses, a store room, stables, a blacksmith shop, and several other outbuildings in the 1880s. Over time, the area came to be known as Possum Glory—Edward R. Sutton, an employee of Guthrie's, is credited with coining the name due to the preponderance of possums in the area.

ChaptersEarly history and developmentLeadership changesSale and closure of mines

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

On the map

Heilwood on the map, 1902 to 1972

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

Heilwood on the 1902 USGS mapHeilwood on the 1961 USGS mapHeilwood on the 1972 USGS map1902Barnesboro 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 Heilwood.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Heilwood in 1913

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

John the Baptist parish at Heilwood and St. Anthony parish at Clymer, Pa. His labors are diversified and arduous, but he has attended faithfully to the many demands made upon him and has maintained the various churches under his care in creditable condition. His devotion to his work and unselfish i…
Indiana County, Pennsylvania1913 · page 998Read the page →
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John the Baptist parish at Heilwood and St. Anthony parish at Clymer, Pa. His labors are diversified and arduous, but he has attended faithfully to the many demands made upon him and has maintained the various churches under his care in creditable condition. His devotion to his work and unselfish interest in all that concerns the welfare of

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
cessfully that he added to his holdings until he now owns 231 acres there. This property had been his home for a quarter of century when he retired to Heilwood, in Pine township. Following this he purchased another farm of 144 acres, but later sold it to the Heilwood Company, and in 1910 bought his…
Indiana County, Pennsylvania1913 · page 1269Read the page →
Read the text

cessfully that he added to his holdings until he now owns 231 acres there. This property had been his home for a quarter of century when he retired to Heilwood, in Pine township. Following this he purchased another farm of 144 acres, but later sold it to the Heilwood Company, and in 1910 bought his present farm in Pine township, consisting 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

Heilwood, 1902 to 1926

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1914Born hereAugie Donatelli is born here
  4. 1926Born hereAl Porto is born here
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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Famous people

2 famous people were born in Heilwood

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

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A
Al PortoAmerican baseball player · b. 1926
Augie DonatelliAmerican baseball umpire · b. 1914
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Pine TownshipIts storyBCherryhill Township1 historic placeA−

Questions about Heilwood’s history

What year was Heilwood founded?

The Heilwood post office opened in 1904, 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 →
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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 Wikipedia, 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.