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History · Mahaffey

Mahaffey dates to 1841, and 43% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: old-book passages.

1841founded
0on the National Register
43%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Mahaffey began

When was Mahaffey founded?

1841

Mahaffey dates its founding to 1841 (Wikidata).

2020 census: 329185 years
Founding year: Wikidata.The full story ↓

What stands out about Mahaffey’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Mahaffey are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Mahaffey’s homes were built before 1947.Deep rootsEstablished in 1841: 185 years of Mahaffey.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mahaffey’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mahaffey’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Mahaffey came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mahaffey.

Read it all →

The borough was founded by Robert Mahaffey in 1841, at a point where Chest Creek flows into the West Branch Susquehanna River.

First called "Franklin", the borough was incorporated in 1841. At the time it had a public school, four churches, a grist mill and a tannery.

Mahaffey was located at the junction of the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad and the Pennsylvania & Northwestern Railroad.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Mahaffey, 1887–1911

Passages that mention Mahaffey, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Mahaffey was incorporated as a borough in the year 1889. It has four churches, fine public schools and its industries consist of a large taimery and a grist-mill.
Twentieth century history of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania1911 · page 329Read the page →
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Mahaffey was incorporated as a borough in the year 1889. It has four churches, fine public schools and its industries consist of a large taimery and a grist-mill.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
hanna enters from Burnside on the south, and flows a generaUy southeast course, winding and turning around many hilly and rocky bends, as far as old Chest post-ofhce, and for a short distance below it. Here is a second bend to the southeast, which direction it follows to the town of Mahaffey, where…
History of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania1887 · page 416Read the page →
Read the text

hanna enters from Burnside on the south, and flows a generaUy southeast course, winding and turning around many hilly and rocky bends, as far as old Chest post-ofhce, and for a short distance below it. Here is a second bend to the southeast, which direction it follows to the town of Mahaffey, where it receives the waters of Chest Creek, the main tributary to the river in the

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
hanna enters from Burnside on the south, and flows a generally southeast course, winding and turning around many hilly and rocky bends, as far as old Chest post-office, and for a short distance below it. Here is a second bend to the southeast, which direction it follows to the town of Mahaffey, whe…
History of Clearfield County Pennsylvania1887 · page 416Read the page →
Read the text

hanna enters from Burnside on the south, and flows a generally southeast course, winding and turning around many hilly and rocky bends, as far as old Chest post-office, and for a short distance below it. Here is a second bend to the southeast, which direction it follows to the town of Mahaffey, where it receives the waters of Chest Creek, the main tributary to the river in the

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Mahaffey and Its Founder — On the banks of the river Susquehanna, opposite, and about the mouth of Chest Creek is the site on which this town has been built. Its growth began slowly, there being nothing to stimulate it prior to the building of the Bell's Gap Railroad. The land hereabouts was owned …
History of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania1887 · page 423Read the page →
Read the text

Mahaffey and Its Founder — On the banks of the river Susquehanna, opposite, and about the mouth of Chest Creek is the site on which this town has been built. Its growth began slowly, there being nothing to stimulate it prior to the building of the Bell's Gap Railroad. The land hereabouts was owned mainly by Robert Mahaffey. He was born in Lycoming county on the 4th day of May, 18 15, and came to the country of the Upper Susquehanna with his father's family in the year 1828, locating near the site of Burnside borough. Robert was the third of six sons born to William and Nancy (Ben-

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.

By decade

Mahaffey, decade by decade

Today6 recent
US 219 nb-PA 36 sb in Mahaffey (1), Aug. 20242024US 219 nb-PA 36 sb in Mahaffey (1), Aug. 2024PA 36 sb in Mahaffey, Aug. 20242024PA 36 sb in Mahaffey, Aug. 2024Mahaffey, PA post office, Aug. 20242024Mahaffey, PA post office, Aug. 2024Mahaffey, PA Community Volunteer Fire Department, Aug. 20242024Mahaffey, PA Community Volunteer Fire Department, Aug…Alliancechurch-mahaffey2013Alliancechurch-mahaffeyPennsylvania State Route 362010Pennsylvania State Route 36

Questions about Mahaffey’s history

What year was Mahaffey founded?

In 1841, according to Wikidata.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

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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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.