Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns · #662 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Most of Hermitage was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Its Register listing is the Jonas J. Pierce House. Its Register listing is the Jonas J. Pierce House. Below: maps from 1905 on and the census since 1880.
Hermitage dates its founding to 1796 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hermitage is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #662 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Hermitage’s 0.6 sits near the middle of its state (52% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Hermitage had its own post office from 1838 to 1902. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
America's Cemetery · Bethel United Presbyterian Church Cemetery · Fairview Cemetery · Hickory Hill Cemetery · Holy Cross Cemetery · Holy Trinity Hungarian Roman Catholic Cemetery · Holy Trinity Lutheran Cemetery · Keel Ridge Cemetery · Morefield Cemetery · Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cemetery · Riverside Cemetery · Saint Ann's Cemetery · Saint Anthony's Cemetery · Saint John's Orthodox Cemetery · Saint Marys Cemetery · Saint Michael Byzantine Catholic Cemetery · Saint Rose Cemetery · Saint Stanislaus Kostka Cemetery · Slovak Cemetery · Temple Beth Israel Cemetery · Trout Island Cemetery
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hermitage’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hermitage. 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 Hermitage.
From Wikipedia’s history of Hermitage.
Hermitage was first settled in 1796 and incorporated in 1832 as Hickory Township from portions of the Shenango and Pymatuning townships. Following the incorporation of the cities of Sharon and Farrell and the boroughs of Sharpsville and Wheatland, the remainder of the Township was incorporated into a first class township.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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 SurveyThe country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 49 and 16,365 people in every census since 1880.
12 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hermitage’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Hermitage itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1796, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Hermitage’s post office opened in 1832, and the census of 1880 counted 49 people here.
Hermitage is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #662 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.
One place: the Jonas J. Pierce House (listed 1996).
6% of Hermitage’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1970.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.
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