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NEW BALTIMORE COVERED BRIDGEPhoto: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · New Baltimore

New Baltimore dates to 1829, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1923 on, and the census since 1880.

1829founded
0on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From New Baltimore’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How New Baltimore began

When was New Baltimore founded?

1829

New Baltimore dates its founding to 1829 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 150 in 18802020 census: 142197 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1867.The full story ↓

What stands out about New Baltimore’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 263 in 1960; 142 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsEstablished in 1829: 197 years of New Baltimore.On the map since 19234 editions of the USGS map, 1923 to 1973. Watch New Baltimore change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start New Baltimore’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how New Baltimore’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewNEW BALTIMORE COVERED BRIDGE: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

New Baltimore, census by census

010020018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 263

Peaked at 263 in 1960; 142 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on New Baltimore’s Wikipedia page.

Timeline

New Baltimore, 1829 to 1970

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1829
    FoundingNew Baltimore is established
  3. 1860In the archiveMap of Mosersburg, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, from 1860 Somerset County Map by Edward…
  4. 1867Post officeThe New Baltimore post office opens
  5. 1883Born hereAugustine B. Kelley is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1923On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 263
  9. 1970In the archiveNEW BALTIMORE COVERED BRIDGE
The story

How New Baltimore came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of New Baltimore.

Read it all →

The first settler was Michael Riddlemoser, who built a house here in 1820, and laid out the street plan in 1829. The community was initially known as Mosersburg, and was later renamed New Baltimore, after Riddlemoser's hometown. The borough was incorporated in 1874.

In the 1880s, a major railroad yard and maintenance facility were planned for New Baltimore to serve the South Pennsylvania Railroad. In the end, construction on the railroad stopped and the tracks were never laid, and New Baltimore lost its chance to become a significant railroading center.

The New Baltimore Bridge, built in 1879, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

New Baltimore, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s1 item
Map of Mosersburg, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, from 1860 Somerset County Map by Edward L Walker1860Map of Mosersburg, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, fro…Map
1970s1 item
NEW BALTIMORE COVERED BRIDGE1970NEW BALTIMORE COVERED BRIDGE
1980s–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
Today8 recent
PA Turnpike looking west from Findley Street, New Baltimore, Aug. 20242024PA Turnpike looking west from Findley Street, New Bal…New Baltimore, PA new post office, Aug. 20242024New Baltimore, PA new post office, Aug. 2024New Baltimore, PA Volunteer Fire Company, Aug. 20242024New Baltimore, PA Volunteer Fire Company, Aug. 2024New Baltimore, PA (4), Aug. 20242024New Baltimore, PA (4), Aug. 2024New Baltimore, PA (3), Aug. 20242024New Baltimore, PA (3), Aug. 2024New Baltimore, PA (2), Aug. 20242024New Baltimore, PA (2), Aug. 2024New Baltimore, PA (1), Aug. 20242024New Baltimore, PA (1), Aug. 2024New Baltimore Road wb entering New Baltimore, PA, Aug. 20242024New Baltimore Road wb entering New Baltimore, PA, Aug…
On the map

New Baltimore on the map, 1923 to 1973

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of New Baltimore. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

New Baltimore on the 1923 USGS mapNew Baltimore on the 1944 USGS mapNew Baltimore on the 1967 USGS mapNew Baltimore on the 1973 USGS map1923Berlin 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 New Baltimore.

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.

NEW BALTIMORE COVERED BRIDGE
Retake this viewNEW BALTIMORE COVERED BRIDGE, 1970

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Places now gone

New Baltimore’s post office has been open since 1867.

Gone or out of use
New Baltimore Post Officepost office

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about New Baltimore’s history

What year was New Baltimore founded?

In 1829, according to Wikidata. New Baltimore’s post office opened in 1867, and the census of 1880 counted 150 people here.

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 (10), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.