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B−History
History · Kittanning Township

Kittanning Township dates to 1803, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 51% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 17 old photos and papers, maps from 1901 on, and the census since 1810.

1803founded
0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
17old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Kittanning Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Kittanning Township began

When was Kittanning Township founded?

1803

Kittanning Township dates its founding to 1803 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1810.

First census: 309 in 18102020 census: 2,035223 years

How historic is Kittanning Township?

B−

More historic than 51% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1850.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Kittanning Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kittanning Township is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kittanning Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1803, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194011.7% of homes (±4.6) · 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 51%
NewerOlder

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 Kittanning 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 1803.
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 (±4.6 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 Kittanning Township’s past

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

Lost villages6 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Kittanning Township, and 7 old place names are still on the map.A town in old photos17 old photos, postcards and papers, 1860–1933.On the map since 19014 editions of the USGS map, 1901 to 1993. Watch Kittanning Township change.Boom and bustPeaked at 7,808 in 1930; 3,921 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Blanket Hill
1850–1907
Top
1886–1913
Pyrra
1892–1913
Heilman
1897–1901
Shay
1898–1913
McNees
1899–1905
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Blanket HillHeilmanMcNeesPyrraRockvilleShayTop
Gone or out of use
Blanket Hill Post Officepost officeDunbar Airportairport
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Kittanning Township
Heilman Emmanuel Evangelical LutheranRupp Lutheran ChurchSaint Johns Lutheran ChurchShottsSimpson ChurchUnited Rockville Lutheran

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

By decade

Kittanning Township, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s–1930s17 items
Kittaning, Pennsylvania.Alternate Title: Kittaning: bridge and townc. 1860Kittaning, Pennsylvania.Alternate Title: Kittaning: b…Kittanning, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania 18961896Kittanning, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania 1896Kittanning, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania 18961896Kittanning, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania 1896Picturesque on the Penn(sylvania) Central R. R. - The 'Baby' (of The Steam Saw Mill) at Kittaning Point (E and H T Anth…c. 1900Picturesque on the Penn(sylvania) Central R. R. - The…Corral Motel, Route 422, Kittanning, Pa (83920)c. 1930Corral Motel, Route 422, Kittanning, Pa (83920)Mateers Shoe Shop (80260)c. 1930Mateers Shoe Shop (80260)The Royle Motel (85276)c. 1930The Royle Motel (85276)Mahoning Creek Dam, Damtender's Dwelling No. 1, 6 miles east of S.R. 281933Mahoning Creek Dam, Damtender's Dwelling No. 1, 6 mil…Mahoning Creek Dam, Damtender's Dwelling No. 1, 6 miles east of S.R. 281933Mahoning Creek Dam, Damtender's Dwelling No. 1, 6 mil…Mahoning Creek Dam, Damtender's Dwelling No. 1, 6 miles east of S.R. 281933Mahoning Creek Dam, Damtender's Dwelling No. 1, 6 mil…Mahoning Creek Dam, Damtender's Dwelling No. 1, 6 miles east of S.R. 281933Mahoning Creek Dam, Damtender's Dwelling No. 1, 6 mil…Mahoning Creek Dam, Damtender's Dwelling No. 1, 6 miles east of S.R. 281933Mahoning Creek Dam, Damtender's Dwelling No. 1, 6 mil…Mahoning Creek Dam, Damtender's Dwelling No. 1, 6 miles east of S.R. 281933Mahoning Creek Dam, Damtender's Dwelling No. 1, 6 mil…Mahoning Creek Dam, Damtender's Dwelling No. 1, 6 miles east of S.R. 281933Mahoning Creek Dam, Damtender's Dwelling No. 1, 6 mil…Mahoning Creek Dam, Damtender's Dwelling No. 1, 6 miles east of S.R. 281933Mahoning Creek Dam, Damtender's Dwelling No. 1, 6 mil…Mahoning Creek Dam, Damtender's Dwelling No. 1, 6 miles east of S.R. 281933Mahoning Creek Dam, Damtender's Dwelling No. 1, 6 mil…Mahoning Creek Dam, Damtender's Dwelling No. 1, 6 miles east of S.R. 281933Mahoning Creek Dam, Damtender's Dwelling No. 1, 6 mil…
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
On the map

Kittanning Township on the map, 1901 to 1993

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

Kittanning Township on the 1901 USGS mapKittanning Township on the 1968 USGS mapKittanning Township on the 1973 USGS mapKittanning Township on the 1993 USGS map1901Rural Valley 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 Kittanning Township.

The story

How Kittanning Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Kittanning Township.

Read it all →

The borough is located on the east bank of the Allegheny River, founded on the site of the eighteenth-century Lenape (Delaware) village of Kittanning at the western end of the Kittanning Path, an ancient Native American path.

In 1756, the village was destroyed by John Armstrong Sr. at the Battle of Kittanning during the French and Indian War. During the attack, a blast from the explosion of gunpowder stored in Captain Jacobs's house was heard at Fort Duquesne, present day Pittsburgh, 44 miles away.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Kittanning Township, 1803 to 1930

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1803
    FoundingKittanning Township is established
  3. 1850Post officeThe Blanket Hill post office opens
  4. 1860In the archiveKittaning, Pennsylvania.Alternate Title: Kittaning: bridge and town
  5. 1886Post officeThe Top post office opens
  6. 1892Post officeThe Pyrra post office opens
  7. 1896In the archiveKittanning, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania 1896
  8. 20th century
  9. 1900In the archivePicturesque on the Penn(sylvania) Central R. R. - The 'Baby' (of The Steam Saw Mill) at K…
  10. 1901On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1907Post officeThe Blanket Hill post office closes
  12. 1913Post officeThe Top post office closes
  13. 1913Post officeThe Pyrra post office closes
  14. 1930In the archiveCorral Motel, Route 422, Kittanning, Pa (83920)
  15. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 7,808
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.

Kittaning, Pennsylvania.Alternate Title: Kittaning: bridge and town
Retake this viewKittaning, Pennsylvania.Alternate Title: Kittaning: bridge and town, c. 1860

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Kittanning Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,0001850190019502000Peak: 7,808

Peaked at 7,808 in 1930; 3,921 people lived here in 2020.

22 censuses, 1810–2020.

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

Help out

Finish Kittanning Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewKittaning, Pennsylvania.Alternate Title…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Plumcreek TownshipIts storyC+Manor TownshipIts storyC+Bethel Township1 historic placeB+Burrell TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCowanshannock TownshipIts storyB

Questions about Kittanning Township’s history

What year was Kittanning Township founded?

In 1803, according to Wikidata. Kittanning Township’s post office opened in 1850, and the census of 1810 counted 309 people here.

How does Kittanning Township rank for history?

Kittanning Township is more historic than 51% 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.

How old are the homes in Kittanning Township?

12% of Kittanning Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1974.

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 (17), Wikidata (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.