Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to North Versailles Township

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
Bowman HomesteadBowman Homestead · Photo: Lee Paxton · CC BY-SA 4.0
B−History
History · North Versailles Township

North Versailles Township dates to 1869, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 46% of U.S. towns · #795 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Bowman Homestead. Below: maps from 1904 on and the census since 1930.

1869founded
1on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How North Versailles Township began

When was North Versailles Township founded?

1869

North Versailles Township dates its founding to 1869 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1930.

First census: 5,668 in 19302020 census: 10,074157 years

How historic is North Versailles Township?

B−

More historic than 46% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1850.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives North Versailles Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, North Versailles Township is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #795 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of North Versailles Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1869, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194012.0% of homes (±3.5) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 1.0 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 46%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns of 2,500+ (1,035)Ahead of 23%

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 North Versailles Township’s 1.0 sits near the middle of its state (53% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1869.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.5 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 North Versailles Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of North Versailles Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s North Versailles Township, and 4 old place names are still on the map.Boom and bustPeaked at 13,583 in 1960; 10,079 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of North Versailles Township’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start North Versailles Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how North Versailles Township’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Port Perry
1850–1930
Braddock's Field
1853–1878
North Versailles
1959–today
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Fite StationNorth VersaillesPort PerryWest Wilmerding
Gone or out of use
Braddocks Fieldlocale
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside North Versailles Township
GrandviewHoly FamilyMiller United Methodist ChurchNew Saint JosephsSaint John the BaptistSaint Nicholas

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

People over time

North Versailles Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00019401960198020002020Peak: 13,583

Peaked at 13,583 in 1960; 10,079 people lived here in 2020.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on North Versailles Township’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How North Versailles Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of North Versailles Township.

Read it all →

North Versailles Township was formed on September 18, 1869, by a division of (the original) Versailles Township into North and South Versailles townships. Versailles Township was one of the original seven townships of Allegheny County formed in 1788 from Westmoreland County. Additionally, the land which encompasses the present day North Versailles Township was disputed territory between Pennsylvania and Virginia, which claimed the area as part of Yohogania County of the District of West Augusta.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

North Versailles Township, 1850 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe Port Perry post office opens
  3. 1853Post officeThe Braddock's Field post office opens
  4. 1869
    FoundingNorth Versailles Township is established
  5. 1871Born hereWilliam Henry Coleman is born here
  6. 1878Post officeThe Braddock's Field post office closes
  7. 20th century
  8. 1904On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1930Post officeThe Port Perry post office closes
  10. 1959Post officeThe North Versailles post office opens
  11. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 13,583
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

North Versailles Township on the map in 1904

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of North Versailles Township.

North Versailles Township on the 1904 USGS map1904Pittsburgh 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 North Versailles Township.

On the National Register

1 historic place in North Versailles Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Bowman Homestead
Bowman Homestead
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Bowman HomesteadGreek Revival

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

East McKeesportIts storyB−WallIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMonroevilleIts storyC−West WilmerdingIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorth Braddock1 historic placeB+Wilmerding1 historic placeB+East Pittsburgh1 historic placeB+McKeesport5 historic placesATraffordIts storyC+DuquesneIts storyB+

Questions about North Versailles Township’s history

What year was North Versailles Township founded?

In 1869, according to Wikidata. North Versailles Township’s post office opened in 1850, and the census of 1930 counted 5,668 people here.

How does North Versailles Township rank for history?

North Versailles Township is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #795 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 North Versailles Township?

One place: the Bowman Homestead (listed 1979).

How old are the homes in North Versailles Township?

12% of North Versailles Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1959.

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).

From the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.