Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1880.
Hughestown dates its founding to 1879 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hughestown is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Hughestown’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.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hughestown. 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 Hughestown.
Peaked at 2,340 in 1940; 1,329 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hughestown’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Hughestown.
The area was originally a small settlement within Pittston Township. However, as the regional population swelled due to industrial growth, the community sought independence. On April 7, 1879, Hughestown was officially incorporated as a borough.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Hughestown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
McCarthyville (popularly Corklane) is a mining town or collection of houses in Pittston township; joins Pittston on the east extending eastward a short distance beyond the D. & H. C. Company railroad and on the north reaches to Hughestown borough line and south to Browntown, and is separated from the latter by a line extending from Fairmount breaker to Market street, Pittston. There are 900 inhabitants in McCarthyville; 140 dwellings. The community is engaged in the collieries. Has a new school-building of four rooms, 163 pupils; 2 hotels, 2 stores and 1 coal breaker; it is reached by the D. & H. railroad and the Central of New
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
its settlement in 1871, consequent upon the development of its great coal industry, and by this its present prosperity is maintained chiefly. The council changed the name from Pleasant Vallej' to Avoca in 1889, to accord with the postoffice name of the place. As a town it is virtually linked to Pittston by Hughestown, which lies between the two places and gives the three places the appearance of one continuous town. It has practically four lines of railroads, giving it every facility for transportation. It has four churches, four schools, a board of trade and fire department, and a fine water supply will be given it in the near future by the Spring Brook
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
In the archiveErie-Railroad-v-Tompkins-incident-scene-040One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hughestown’s page.
Retake this view · +15Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1879, according to Wikidata. the census of 1880 counted 1,192 people here.
Hughestown is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns. 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.
40% of Hughestown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.5 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1955.
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), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
1937
1937
1937
1937
1937