Founding year: the first Jeannette post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Jeannette’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jeannette is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #761 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Jeannette’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 Jeannette’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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Jeannette’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.
Perhaps the oldest historical reference to the area that became Jeannette is the role the area played in the Pontiac War in 1763. The Bushy Run Battlefield marks the spot where Colonel Henry Boquet led the British and American troops to defeat the Indians in a battle on the 5th and 6th of August that year. This victory is credited with helping to prevent the capture of Fort Pitt, and it served the purpose of reopening communication and supply lines. The 200-acre (0.81 km2) historical landmark is the site of a museum, nature trails, picnic areas, and an annual reenactment of the Battle of Bushy Run.
Passages that mention Jeannette, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania1906 · page 608Read the page →
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tinuing at this for a year or two, later mining coal for this company. In 1882 he secured a position as freight brakeman on the Pennsylvania railroad, which he filled for two years, being then promoted to conductor, in which capacity he served about three years. He was then made yard master at Jeannette, Pennsylvania, where he resided until June 17, 1904, and then purchased the property in North Irwin which he now occupies. He had previously built the first house in North Irwin, completed September 22, 1890, now occupied by his brother, Harry O. Carroll. In religion Mr. Carroll adheres to the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania1906 · page 391Read the page →
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time of the death of his father. He was educated in the common schools, and at the age of ten years was employed as bell boy in the Bush House. Bclfont, remaining six years. He then went to California and after prospecting for five months returned to Pennsylvania and settled in Jeannette, where he had charge of a pool room. He held this position until 1891, and then moved to New Kensington, one year before its incorporation. For one year he was proprietor of a pool room and then for about two years was bartender for JMulvihill & Herron. After this he purchased a pool room on Fifth avenue, which
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
Jeannette, 1888 to 1989
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.
The Jeannette post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Jeannette rank for history?
Jeannette is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #761 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 Jeannette?
31% of Jeannette’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1952.
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 the Library of Congress (6), 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.
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