Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to New Centerville

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · New Centerville

New Centerville dates to 1834, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1921 on, and the census since 1860.

1834founded
0on the National Register
37%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Nyttend · Public domain
Quick answers

How New Centerville began

When was New Centerville founded?

1834

New Centerville dates its founding to 1834 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1860.

First census: 154 in 18602020 census: 128192 years
Founding year: Wikidata.The full story ↓

What stands out about New Centerville’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 253 in 1970; 128 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of New Centerville’s homes were built before 1953.On the map since 19216 editions of the USGS map, 1921 to 1981. Watch New Centerville change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start New Centerville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

New Centerville, census by census

0100200190019502000Peak: 253

Peaked at 253 in 1970; 128 people lived here in 2020.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

The story

How New Centerville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of New Centerville.

Read it all →

A schoolhouse was built in what is now New Centerville about 1800, and Jacob Weimer taught there for several years. A church was built about 1813 and was shared by the Lutherans and the Presbyterians, and the Methodists built one about 1850. Michael Freeze arrived in the vicinity of New Centerville in 1830 and laid out the town in 1834. A tannery was built around 1840 by Josiah Miller. New Centerville was incorporated as a borough on March 6, 1854.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

New Centerville, 1834 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1834
    FoundingNew Centerville is established
  3. 1860In the archiveInset Map of New Centerville, Pennsylvania, from 1860 Somerset County Map by Edward L Wal…
  4. 20th century
  5. 1921On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 253
By decade

New Centerville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s1 item
Inset Map of New Centerville, Pennsylvania, from 1860 Somerset County Map by Edward L Walker1860Inset Map of New Centerville, Pennsylvania, from 1860…Map
Today3 recent
New Centerville COGGC2018New Centerville COGGCKingswood from Bridge2018Kingswood from BridgeBridge Street2018Bridge Street
On the map

New Centerville on the map, 1921 to 1981

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

New Centerville on the 1921 USGS mapNew Centerville on the 1939 USGS mapNew Centerville on the 1944 USGS mapNew Centerville on the 1968 USGS mapNew Centerville on the 1973 USGS mapNew Centerville on the 1981 USGS map1921Meyersdale 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 Centerville.

Questions about New Centerville’s history

What year was New Centerville founded?

In 1834, according to Wikidata. the census of 1860 counted 154 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 (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.