Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1827.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives McKeesport’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, McKeesport is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #165 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 McKeesport’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 McKeesport’s 2.9 sits near the middle of its state (61% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 5 listings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1795.
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 (±4.8 points).
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 McKeesport’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
David McKee emigrated from Scotland and was the first permanent White settler at the forks of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny Rivers, the site of present-day McKeesport, in 1755. Around the time of the French and Indian Wars, George Washington often came to McKeesport to visit his friend, Queen Alliquippa, a Seneca Indian ruler. The Colonial Government granted David McKee exclusive right of ferriage over those rivers on April 3, 1769, called "McKee's Port".
Passages that mention McKeesport, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania1889 · page 109Read the page →
Read the text
The name is derived from that of its founder, Thomas Reynolds, by whom a portion of the town plot was laid out about twenty years ago. Few indications of growth were apparent for some time. The place received an impetus in the prosperity of McKeesport, but, with no means of convenient communication, its improvement was necessarily retarded. The opening of the Pittsburgh, McKeesport & Youghiogheny railroad and of the Youghiogheny suspension bridge in 1883 completely obviated this disadvantage, and the growth of the town from that time has been rapid. It is pleasantly located on a gentle slope
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania1889 · page 734Read the page →
Read the text
road company, alleging that the respondent company had violated the law in hypothecating certain of the bonds of the borough. It was averred that by an act of assembly approved April 26, 1854, the provisions of a previous act were extended to the boroughs of McKeesport and Birmingham, authorizing each to subscribe for two thousand shares of the stock of the company, amounting to one hundred thousand dollars, and to issue bonds to the company to the amount of stock subscribed. August 30, 1855, the borough of McKeesport subscribed for two thousand shares of stock, and issued bonds for the same, bearing date
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania1889 · page 734Read the page →
Read the text
road company, alleging that the respondent company had violated the law in hypothecating certain of the bonds of the borough. It was averred that by an act of assembly approved April 26, 1854, the provisions of a previous act were extended to the boroughs of McKeesport and Birmingham, authorizing each to subscribe for two thousand shares of the stock of the company, amounting to one hundred thousand dollars, and to issue bonds to the company to the amount of stock subscribed. August 30, 1855, the borough of McKeesport subscribed for two thousand shares of stock, and issued bonds for the same, bearing date
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
McKeesport, 1795 to 1979
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
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.
In 1795, according to Wikidata. McKeesport’s post office opened in 1827, and the census of 1850 counted 1,392 people here.
How does McKeesport rank for history?
McKeesport is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #165 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 McKeesport?
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the McKeesport National Bank (listed 1980, the first), and 1 structure.
How old are the homes in McKeesport?
41% of McKeesport’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1947.
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 (9), 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.
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