Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0More historic than 74% of U.S. towns · #427 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1880.
Masontown dates its founding to 1798 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Masontown is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #427 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 Masontown’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 Masontown. 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 Masontown.
Peaked at 4,909 in 1980; 3,276 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Masontown’s Wikipedia page.
3 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1922A Sailor-Made Man (1921) - 17
c. 1930U.S. Post Office, Masontown, Pa (71385)
1968DETAIL OF BUILDER'S PLATE ON THE SOUTHWEST CORNER - F…
1968DETAIL OF EAST TRUSS - Fayette County Bridge No. 103,…
1968VIEW FROM SOUTHEAST CORNER OF THE BRIDGE LOOKING NORT…
1968VIEW NORTHWARD FROM THE ROAD SHOWING APPROACH TO THE …
1968VIEW OF DECK AND BOTH TRUSSES LOOKING NORTHWARD FROM …
1968VIEW OF TRUSS FROM SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THE BRIDGE LOO…
1968VIEW SOUTHWARD FROM THE EDGE OF THE DECK SHOWING BOTH…
1968VIEW SOUTHWARD FROM THE ROAD SHOWING APPROACH TO THE …From Wikipedia’s history of Masontown.
Fort Mason was built as a blockhouse from 1774 to 1778 by John Mason, also known as Johannes Phillip Maurer (1730–1812). Masontown became a town in 1798. He later moved to Ohio and is buried on a family farm in Columbiana County.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Masontown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
the Ten-Mile settlement through Greene County, crossing the creek at Hyde's Ferry or the mouth of Big Whitely Creek, passing by the south side of Masontown through Haydentown, or by David John's mill, up Laurel Hill, through Sandy Creek settlement, to Daniel McPeak's and into Virginia." The road from John Gilliland's to Rabb's mill was ordered to be laid out at September sessions, 1788, and Abra-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Samuel Allebaugh died Sept. 16, 1867, and was interred in the German Baptist burying-ground. After leaving Virginia he lived wholly in Masontown, except for a period of about five years which he piissed on his farm in German township, on the waters of Brown's Run, and two years which were spent in Fairfield County, Ohio, on a farm which he purchased in 1835, upon which he moved in 1836, and which he
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Georges Creek congregation of the German Baptist Brethren was organized about 1833, and a few years later erected the Fairview meeting house near Masontown where they still continue to worship. In 1902, this church concluded to erect another house of worship, and for this purpose a lot was purchased on Robinson street in Uniontown and the work of construction commenced. A brick building was erected at a cost of about $6,000 which was dedicated February 15, 1903,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Smithfield and Masontown Railroad or the Baltimore and Ohio extension from Smithfield to Leckrone, was completed in 1900. It runs north from Smithfield along the western line of Georges township, past the Pleasant Hill and Custer school houses, and enters German at High House, from which it runs west through the southern part
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.
Born hereBruce Foster Sterling is born here
Born hereFrank Llewellyn Bowman is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyIn the archiveA Sailor-Made Man (1921) - 17In the archiveU.S. Post Office, Masontown, Pa (71385)In the archiveDETAIL OF BUILDER'S PLATE ON THE SOUTHWEST CORNER - Fayette County Bridge No. 103, Townsh…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.
1909Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Masontown’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Masontown’s post office has been open since 1827. Another post office, Measontown, 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).
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 1798, according to Wikidata. Masontown’s post office opened in 1822, and the census of 1880 counted 376 people here.
Masontown is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #427 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.
37% of Masontown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1952.
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 (13), the Library of Congress (2), 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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