2 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 586 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1922 on, and the census since 1870.
Founding year: the first Mount Union post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1849.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Mount Union’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mount Union is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mount Union’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 Mount Union’s 2,517 sits above most of its state (99% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 586 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% of U.S. towns.
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 (±7.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1849 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Mount Union’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Mount Union was largely influenced by industry. It was at one time the world's largest producer of refractory material (silica brick), with three plants – General Refractories, United States Refractories, and Harbison Walker. The refractory business in Mount Union lasted from 1899 to about 1972, with limited production into the early 1990s. Other industries included two tanneries, a tanning extract plant, coal yards, an explosives and munitions plant (Aetna), and foundry and machine shops.
Passages that mention Mount Union, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Huntingdon County, in the state of Pennsylvania1876 · page 154Read the page →
Read the text
The making of a railroad from the Pennsylvania canal and railroad at or near the present site of Mount Union to the Broad Top coal region, is almost as old a project as the Huntingdon and Broad Top mountain railroad. Early in 1848, meetings were held by the friends of the road at points on the proposed route. On the 28th of February in that year, one was held at Scottsville, at which John Lutz presided. A committee of sixteen was appointed to report res-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Huntingdon County, in the state of Pennsylvania1876 · page 275Read the page →
Read the text
Mount Union was laid out in 1850, by Gen. George W. Speer and John Dougherty, and was designed by the proprietors as a place of transfer from their contemplated Drake's Ferry and East Broad Top Eailroad, for which a charter was granted by the Legislature in 1819, to the Pennsylvania canal. The name. Mount Union, concentrates the physical, geological, commercial, mineral and manufacturing features of a wild and beautiful region.
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
Mount Union, 1833 to 1930
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 Mount Union post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1849.
How does Mount Union rank for history?
Mount Union is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns. 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 Mount Union?
Two places: the Harbison-Walker Refractories Company (listed 1990) and the Mount Union Historic District (1994).
How old are the homes in Mount Union?
42% of Mount Union’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.8 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1946.
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 (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 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.
1906
1922
c. 1930
