Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1828.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Mountville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mountville is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #663 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mountville’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 Mountville’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.
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 (±7.2 points). Two sources give 1814.
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 Mountville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
On January 11, 1814, Isaac Rohrer laid out the town that became known as Mountville, dividing it into 130 building lots, sold by lottery. Located 4 miles (6 km) east of Columbia in West Hempfield Township on the Lancaster and Susquehanna Turnpike, Mountville was originally named "Mount Pleasant" because it was situated on an elevation affording a pleasant view of the surrounding countryside in every direction.
In 1842, when the first post office was established in the town, the name was changed to "Mountville" because the postal service already had another Mount Pleasant registered in Pennsylvania.
Recognizing the need for a municipal water system, the town incorporated as a borough in 1906.
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.
In 1814, according to Wikidata. Mountville’s post office opened in 1828, and the census of 1860 counted 325 people here.
How does Mountville rank for history?
Mountville is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #663 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.
How old are the homes in Mountville?
15% of Mountville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.2 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1982.
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 (12), Wikipedia, 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1894
2026
2026
2025
2018
2018
2018
2018
2011
2009