Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Oswayo

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 · Oswayo

Oswayo dates to 1820, and 70% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1934 on and the census since 1880.

1820founded
0on the National Register
70%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Oswayo began

When was Oswayo founded?

1820

Oswayo dates its founding to 1820 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 321 in 18802020 census: 134206 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1849.The full story ↓

What stands out about Oswayo’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 Oswayo are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Oswayo’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 382 in 1910; 134 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsEstablished in 1820: 206 years of Oswayo.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Oswayo’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Oswayo’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
The story

How Oswayo came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Oswayo.

Read it all →

Oswayo was incorporated on January 8, 1901 and named for the Township. The Oswayo Valley had one of the best white pine stands in Pennsylvania. The name is the English derivative of the Seneca word "O-sa-ayeh", meaning pine forest. The whole of the valley was a vast pine forest of trees standing so close that it was impossible for underbrush to grow. Some of the trees reached heights of between 100 and 150 feet with the lowest branches 50 to 75 feet above the ground. The nucleus of the town had been well established in the days before the Civil War. Early settlers earned their living harvesting white pine. Many of the logs were splashed out on the high waters in the spring of the year. The cities along the Ohio often specified "Oswayo White Pine" because of its quality.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

Oswayo, census by census

010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 382

Peaked at 382 in 1910; 134 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Timeline

Oswayo, 1820 to 1963

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1820
    FoundingOswayo is established
  3. 1849Post officeThe Oswayo post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 382
  6. 1934On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1963Post officeThe Oswayo post office closes
By decade

Oswayo, decade by decade

Today1 recent
PA 244 eb in Oswayo Borough2009PA 244 eb in Oswayo Borough
On the map

Oswayo on the map, 1934 to 1969

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

Oswayo on the 1934 USGS mapOswayo on the 1969 USGS map1934Coudersport 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 Oswayo.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Oswayo had its own post office from 1849 to 1963.

Oswayo
1849–1963
18401930today

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Oswayo TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Oswayo’s history

What year was Oswayo founded?

In 1820, according to Wikidata. Oswayo’s post office opened in 1849, and the census of 1880 counted 321 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 (1), Wikipedia, 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.