Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1850.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives New Philadelphia’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New Philadelphia is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of New Philadelphia’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 Philadelphia’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1840.
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 (±12.6 points).
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 →
What stands out about New Philadelphia’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of New Philadelphia. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1889Pottsville 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 Philadelphia.
New Philadelphia had historically been an anthracite mining town.
Because of the high number of Lithuanians and Irish in the area, there was much separation of the two nationalities. This tension ultimately resulted in the forming of two separate Catholic churches; Sacred Heart (Lithuanian) and Holy Family (Irish). There was also a town-wide brawl that occurred as a result of this tension. The dispute was settled by the priests from Sacred Heart and Holy Family calling their respective patrons to stop fighting and buying each other a beer.
In 2008, the two Catholic parishes were merged to create Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church.
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.
Peaked at 2,557 in 1930; 1,054 people lived here in 2020.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on New Philadelphia’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices
New Philadelphia’s post office has been open since 1951. Another post office, Silver Creek, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Silver Creek
1850–1951
New Philadelphia
1951–today
18501940today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about New Philadelphia’s history
What year was New Philadelphia founded?
In 1840, according to Wikidata. New Philadelphia’s post office opened in 1850, and the census of 1870 counted 558 people here.
How does New Philadelphia rank for history?
New Philadelphia is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns. 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.
How old are the homes in New Philadelphia?
67% of New Philadelphia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±12.6 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 (9), 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.
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