Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns · #146 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Merrick Art Gallery and the Irish-Townsend House. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1840.
New Brighton dates its founding to 1788 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1840.
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New Brighton is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #146 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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 New Brighton’s 5.4 sits above most of its state (68% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
1886Sheet 1 of 7Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of New Brighton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of New Brighton.
From Wikipedia’s history of New Brighton.
In the past, New Brighton had industries in pottery, bricks, sewer pipe, glass, flour, twine, lead kegs, refrigerators, bath tubs, wall paper, steel castings, nails, rivets, and wire.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention New Brighton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
it, are briefly related as follows: To meet the demands of a trade then springing into life, it was thought desirable to build a bridge connecting Brighton and these lands. A charter had been procured for that purpose, providing for the erection of a bridge across the waters of the Beaver, to connect Brighton and the site of New Brighton, stipulating that it should be built in front of Brighton, now Beaver Falls. The parties who had the charter desired to build the bridge so that its eastern terminus would be on what is now Bridge street in New Brighton, but were met with the difRculty that in so doing the terminus of the Brighton side would not be in front of Brighton, and hence would vio-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
THE borough of Fallston is situated at the falls of Big Beaver river, about two miles from its mouth, in a region of great natural and historic interest. On the opposite or east side of the river is the beautiful and thrifty town of New Brighton, with which it is connected by an iron bridge ; but, stronger yet, by the memory of pioneer conflicts and privations.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereL. B. Hanna is born here
In the archiveNew Brighton, Pa. 1883
In the archiveNew Brighton, Pennsylvania 1901
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveNew Brighton PA Presby PHS403
In the archiveHousing conditions in one house in Negro quarter of New Brighton, Pennsylvania
Born hereJack Clark is born here
Born hereShane Douglas is born here4 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on New Brighton’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Peaked at 9,950 in 1930; 5,729 people lived here in 2020.
19 censuses, 1840–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on New Brighton’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1788, according to Wikidata. New Brighton’s post office opened in 1849, and the census of 1840 counted 981 people here.
New Brighton is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #146 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.
Two places: the Merrick Art Gallery (listed 1983) and the Irish-Townsend House (2024).
55% of New Brighton’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 1938.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (7), 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, 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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