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–Not graded
History · Muse

Muse’s post office opened in 1924, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1946 on.

1924first post office
0on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Muse’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Muse began

When was Muse founded?

1924

The Muse post office opened in 1924, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 2,525102 years
Founding year: the first Muse post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
The story

How Muse came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Muse.

Read it all →

Henry Clay Frick's H. C. Frick & Company established Muse as a company coal town.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Muse, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s6 items
Commodore Dickman and Commander Amberson talking with miners who are returning home from work. H. C. Frick Coke... - NA…1946Commodore Dickman and Commander Amberson talking with…Dispensary at mine with Dr. David O. Johnson, company doctor at local mine. H. C. Frick Coal Company, National ^3... - …1946Dispensary at mine with Dr. David O. Johnson, company…Exterior of company store. H. C. Frick Coal Company, National #3 Mine, Muse, Washington County, Pennsylvania1946Exterior of company store. H. C. Frick Coal Company, …John Roman, Robert Rose and John Nakitis, miners. H. C. Frick Coal Company, National #3 Mine, Muse, Washington County, …1946John Roman, Robert Rose and John Nakitis, miners. H. …Kitchen in company owned house. H. C. Frick Coke Company, National #3 Mine, Muse, Washington County, Pennsylvania1946Kitchen in company owned house. H. C. Frick Coke Comp…Lavatory in company owned house. H. C. Frick Coke Company, National #3 Mine, Muse, Washington County, Pennsylvania1946Lavatory in company owned house. H. C. Frick Coke Com…
1950s–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
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.

Commodore Dickman and Commander Amberson talking with miners who are returning home from work. H. C. Frick Coke... - NA…
Retake this viewCommodore Dickman and Commander Amberson talking with miners who are returning home from work. H. C. Frick Coke... - NA…, 1946

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

Retake this view · +15
Help out

Finish Muse’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCommodore Dickman and Commander Amberso…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Chartiers Township1 historic placeB+Cecil Township1 historic placeA−SouthpointeIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Muse’s history

What year was Muse founded?

The Muse post office opened in 1924, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (6), Wikipedia and Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.