Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1797.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lewistown’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lewistown is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #136 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lewistown’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 Lewistown’s 5.9 sits above most of its state (69% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 5 listings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.2 points). Two sources give 1790.
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 Lewistown’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.
The borough was incorporated in 1795 and was named for William "Bill" Lewis, a Quaker and a member of the state legislature. He gained designation of the borough, which was known then as the Village of Ohesson, as the county seat of Mifflin County.
During the late 19th century, Mifflin County became the crossroads of the Commonwealth. Located near the geographic center of the state, the area became a hub for traffic moving in every direction. Early roads crisscrossed the region, but it was the construction of the Pennsylvania Canal and the railroads that followed that gave stimulus to Mifflin County as an economic force in the state.
this becoming too small for the rapidly increasing congregation, galleries were added about the year 1844. In this shape it was used until the pastorate of Rev. D. S. Monroe, then it was remodeled and enlarged as it now stands. Lewistown became a station in the spring of 1834, with the Rev. Samuel Kessler as the first stationed preacher. But few are now living who united with the church previous to that time. Six only among its present memberships who were in this society before Lewistown
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
These medicinal springs are on the banks of Jack's Creek, a most romantic situation, eight miles east of Lewistown, near the Sunbury and Lewistown Railroad, at Painter's Station. The neighborhood is diversified by cultivated fields and picturesque scener}-, the wood abounding in game and the stream stocked with fish of the smallest possible varieties.
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
Lewistown, 1790 to 1999
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1790, according to Wikidata. Lewistown’s post office opened in 1797, and the census of 1800 counted 523 people here.
How does Lewistown rank for history?
Lewistown is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #136 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.
What is on the National Register in Lewistown?
5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the McCoy House (listed 1973, the first).
How old are the homes in Lewistown?
55% of Lewistown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.
1867
1874![The Lewistown bridge, destroyed by the Tornado of July 4, 1874, [Pennsylvania]](https://images.townratings.com/story/15357/fcd85cfc9eee5f2d5206-s.jpg)
1874
1875
