Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Dasandman008 · CC BY-SA 3.0More historic than 35% of U.S. towns · #903 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1930.
Lake City dates its founding to 1863 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1930.
More historic than 35% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lake City is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #903 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. 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 Lake City’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 Lake City. 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 Lake City.
Lake City’s post office has been open since 1954. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Lake City.
Prior to European Colonization, the land that now contains Lake City was the home of the Erie people.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Lake City, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Lake City Malt House, No. 432 West Ninth street: This enterprise was started in 1859 by Ben Butterfield, annually producing 5,000 bushels of malt, and in 1864 was purchased by Jacob Weschler, its present proprietor. The large and conveniently arranged office and warehouse is 55x110 feet in dimensions; the malt house is five-stories high and is built of brick; the drying kiln adjoining is 30x45 feet in dimensions, also of brick, containing two wire cloth floors, which are the best in this city, and as good as any in the Union. These buildings are admirably located, being in close proximity to the railroads and
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.
In the archiveLake Lenape, Delaware Water Gap
In the archiveLake Lenape, Delaware Water Gap
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveDetail view of 85-0 plate girder span directly over creek, looking west. - New York, Chic…3 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1999Detail view of 85-0 plate girder span directly over c…
1999ELEVATION VIEW, LOOKING NW - Elk Park Road Bridge, Sp…
1999Elk Creek Trestle, Spanning Elk Creek, south of Elk P…
1999Overview elevation, looking east down Elk Creek. - Ne…
1999Perspective view from Elk Creek flood plain, looking …
1999Perspective view showing 85-0 plate girder span direc…
1999Perspective view, looking NE from west abutment. - Ne…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 Lake City’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 1,077 and 3,031 people in every census since 1930.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lake City’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Lake City itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Most 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 1863, according to Wikidata. Lake City’s post office opened in 1863, and the census of 1930 counted 1,077 people here.
Lake City is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #903 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.
16% of Lake City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (8), the Library of Congress (2), Wikipedia, 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 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.
2006
