Founding year: the first Monessen post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Monessen’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Monessen is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #657 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Monessen’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 Monessen’s 1.5 sits near the middle of its state (55% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Monessen’s past
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 Monessen. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1902Brownsville sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Monessen.
People over time
Monessen, census by census
Peaked at 20,268 in 1930; 6,876 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Monessen’s Wikipedia page.
Every building
Monessen, building by building, 1901–1914
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.
Named for the Monongahela River and the industrial German city of Essen, Monessen was created by land speculators fairly late in the history of the Mon Valley, after neighboring towns had already been settled. The East Side Land Company bought land from various farmers, laid out the streets, and then sold the lots to prospective residents and employers. James M. Schoonmaker, who made his fortune in coke, owned a controlling interest in the land company. Other investors in the land company who were also memorialized in street names include Philander C. Knox, James H. Reed, H. Sellers McKee, George O. Morgan, and George B. Motheral. In May 1897, National Tin Plate Company, founded by William Donner, began building its mill, thus becoming Monessen's first employer. Sales of lots began on July 27, 1897, for the general public and other employers. Monessen became a borough on September 3, 1…
Passages that mention Monessen, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania1906 · page 230Read the page →
Read the text
He established the first lumber yards in Monessen, 1897, and has contiimed to conduct the same ever since, it being known as the Monessen Lumber Company. He has been engaged in the contracting and building business for the last two decades, and has done as much if not more than any one other man in the building up of the town of Monessen. In 1901, in company with his brother, J. S. Jones, of Belle Vernon, he opened up McMahon, a second addition to Monessen, comprising twenty acres, which they platted and sold, and which proved a most lucrative investment. He was associated with three
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania1906Read the page →
Read the text
from the Western Pennsylvania Medical College the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He entered upon the jiractice of his profession in Braddock, whence in 1893 he moved to \iadison, leaving that place the following year for West Newton, where he remained until 1901, when he settled in Monessen, having throughout these changes always continued to be a resident of his native state. He is surgeon for the Pittsburg Steel Company, at Monessen. He is a member of the County, State and .\merican Medical Societies, and belongs to the Knights of Malta, Monessen Commandery. No. 332. In addition to. these he is
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
Monessen, 1897 to 1963
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.
The Monessen post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Monessen rank for history?
Monessen is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #657 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 Monessen?
One place: the Charleroi-Monessen Bridge (listed 1988).
How old are the homes in Monessen?
20% of Monessen’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1953.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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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c. 1918