Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to McKean

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · McKean

McKean dates to 1795, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1967 on, and the census since 1870.

1795founded
0on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From McKean’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How McKean began

When was McKean founded?

1795

McKean dates its founding to 1795 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 126 in 18702020 census: 476231 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1837.

What stands out about McKean’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsEstablished in 1795: 231 years of McKean.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start McKean’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewThe Great Kinzua Bridge near Alton, Pa.…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

McKean, 1795 to 1967

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1795
    FoundingMcKean is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1837Post officeThe McKean post office opens
  5. 1880In the archiveThe Great Kinzua Bridge near Alton, Pa. Highest bridge in the world
  6. 20th century
  7. 1920Born hereBruce Wallace is born here
  8. 1967On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story so far

McKean, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of McKean yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

McKean is a borough in Erie County, Pennsylvania. The population was 475 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Erie–Meadville combined statistical area. McKean was known as "Middleboro" until it officially changed its name in 1970.

McKean was established in 1795. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 388 to 476 (+23%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about McKean in 1890

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

In 1882 a railroad was built between Coudersport, in Potter county, and Port Allegany, in McKean county, known as the Coudersport & Port Allegany Railroad. The Kinzua Creek Railroad Company was chartered in February, 1890, to build twelve miles of track from Anderson switch, of the Western New York…
History of the counties of McKean, Elk and Forest, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, including their early settlement and development1890 · page 161Read the page →
Read the text

In 1882 a railroad was built between Coudersport, in Potter county, and Port Allegany, in McKean county, known as the Coudersport & Port Allegany Railroad. The Kinzua Creek Railroad Company was chartered in February, 1890, to build twelve miles of track from Anderson switch, of the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad, to the big bridge on the New York, Lake Erie & Western Railroad.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Thomas L. Kane was one of the directors of the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad Company. To him is credited the discovery of the low summit of the mountains in McKean county. In 1856 he came to spend the summer at Williamsville, and while there studied the geological structure of the country, and plann…
History of the counties of McKean, Elk, Cameron and Potter, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections1890 · page 626Read the page →
Read the text

Thomas L. Kane was one of the directors of the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad Company. To him is credited the discovery of the low summit of the mountains in McKean county. In 1856 he came to spend the summer at Williamsville, and while there studied the geological structure of the country, and planned the line of the Big Level road as well as of many of the railroads of McKean and Elk counties. The location of the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad, as at ]>resent constructed, has been questioned by a number of engineers. Be this as it may, the present line with its lirst prominent summit at West creek, north

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Thomas L. Kane was one of the directors of the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad Company. To him is credited the discovery of the low summit of the mountains in McKean county. In 1856 he came to spend the summer at Williamsville, and while there studied the geological structure of the country, and plann…
History of the counties of McKean, Elk and Forest, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, including their early settlement and development1890 · page 626Read the page →
Read the text

Thomas L. Kane was one of the directors of the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad Company. To him is credited the discovery of the low summit of the mountains in McKean county. In 1856 he came to spend the summer at Williamsville, and while there studied the geological structure of the country, and planned the line of the Big Level road as well as of many of the railroads of McKean and Elkcounties. The location of the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1SS2 a railroad was built between Coudersport, in Potter county, and Port Allegany, in McKean county, known as the Coudersport & Port Allegany Railroad. The Kinzua Creek Railroad Company was chartered in February, 1890, to build twelve miles of track from Anderson switch, of the Western New York…
History of the counties of McKean, Elk, Cameron and Potter, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections1890 · page 161Read the page →
Read the text

In 1SS2 a railroad was built between Coudersport, in Potter county, and Port Allegany, in McKean county, known as the Coudersport & Port Allegany Railroad. The Kinzua Creek Railroad Company was chartered in February, 1890, to build twelve miles of track from Anderson switch, of the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad, to the big bridge on the New York, Lake Erie & Western Railroad.

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

McKean, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s2 items
The Great Kinzua Bridge near Alton, Pa. Highest bridge in the world1880The Great Kinzua Bridge near Alton, Pa. Highest bridg…The Great Kinzua Bridge near Alton, Pa. Highest bridge in the world1880The Great Kinzua Bridge near Alton, Pa. Highest bridg…
1890s–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
Date unknown1 to date
Chevalier House, King's Run Road, MyrtleDate?Chevalier House, King's Run Road, Myrtle
Today7 recent
West Road wb in McKean Boro, PA, June 20242024West Road wb in McKean Boro, PA, June 2024PA 99 sb in McKean Borough (2), June 20242024PA 99 sb in McKean Borough (2), June 2024PA 99 sb in McKean Borough (1), June 20242024PA 99 sb in McKean Borough (1), June 2024PA 99 sb entering McKean Borough, June 20242024PA 99 sb entering McKean Borough, June 2024McKean, PA post office, June 20242024McKean, PA post office, June 2024McKean United Methodist Church, PA, June 20242024McKean United Methodist Church, PA, June 2024McKean Borough, PA Municipal Building, June 20242024McKean Borough, PA Municipal Building, June 2024
On the map

McKean on the map, 1967 to 1975

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

McKean on the 1967 USGS mapMcKean on the 1975 USGS map1967Edinboro North sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of McKean.

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.

The Great Kinzua Bridge near Alton, Pa. Highest bridge in the world
Retake this viewThe Great Kinzua Bridge near Alton, Pa. Highest bridge in the world, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

McKean, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020476

Grew from 126 people in 1870 to 476 in 2020, 3 times over.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners

McKean’s post office has been open since 1837.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Middleboro

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

Questions about McKean’s history

What year was McKean founded?

In 1795, according to Wikidata. McKean’s post office opened in 1837, and the census of 1870 counted 126 people here.

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (7), the Library of Congress (3), 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 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.