New Kensington’s post office opened in 1891, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns · #259 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 178 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1895 on, and the census since 1900.
From New Kensington’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How New Kensington began
When was New Kensington founded?
1891
The New Kensington post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Parnassus (1858), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 4,665 in 19002020 census: 12,170135 years
How historic is New Kensington?
A−
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first New Kensington post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives New Kensington’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New Kensington is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #259 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of New Kensington’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 New Kensington’s 154 sits above most of its state (90% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 185 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 New Kensington’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
New Kensington, building by building, 1895–1921
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.
Like much of Westmoreland County and surrounding areas, the region was a hunting ground for American Indians of the Six Nations. White settlement began in the mid-1700s. Continental army troops built Fort Crawford, near the mouth of Pucketa Creek, in 1777. The fort was abandoned in 1793.
Originally part of Burrell (and later Lower Burrell) Township, the city of New Kensington was founded in 1891. In 1890, the Burrell Improvement Company considered the advantages of the level land south of its home in Lower Burrell, and deemed it a prime location for a city and named the area "Kensington"; this was later changed to "New Kensington" for postal reasons, to avoid confusion with the Philadelphia neighborhood of the same name.
Passages that mention New Kensington, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania1906 · page 183Read the page →
Read the text
& Manifold, general merchants of Parker's Landing, Pennsylvania. In 1883 he was admitted to partnership, the style of the firm becoming Manifold & Curtis, under which name the business was conducted for the next ten years. In 1893 he moved to New Kensington and there established a department store, which he has successfully conducted down to the present time under the firm name of Frank Curtis & Company. .Mr. Curtis was one of the ])ioneer merchants of New Kensington, and his business has increased until he has now the largest store of its kind in the Allegheny valley. He is a director of the Logan Trust
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania1906 · page 561Read the page →
Read the text
selected men sent to Johnstown. Pennsylvania, at the time of the great flood m May, 1889. The city of Johnstown presented him with an engraved set of resolutions for faithful and meritorious performance of his duties. The citv of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, was founded in the month of August 1801 36 a t J r
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.
Timeline
New Kensington, 1858 to 1950
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of New Kensington. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1908New Kensington 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 Kensington.
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.
Retake this viewNew Kensington, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, 1896, 1896
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on New Kensington’s page.
The New Kensington post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does New Kensington rank for history?
New Kensington is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #259 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.
What is on the National Register in New Kensington?
4 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Mount St. Peter Roman Catholic Church (listed 1998, the first), and 2 historic districts, the New Kensington Production Works Historic District and the New Kensington Downtown Historic District, with 178 contributing buildings. 185 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in New Kensington?
32% of New Kensington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1952.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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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