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War Memorial, Palo Alto PA 01Photo: Shuvaev · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Palo Alto

Palo Alto dates to 1844, and 62% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1889 on and the census since 1860.

1844founded
0on the National Register
62%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Shuvaev · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Palo Alto began

When was Palo Alto founded?

1844

Palo Alto dates its founding to 1844 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1860.

First census: 1,108 in 18602020 census: 970182 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1870.The full story ↓

What stands out about Palo Alto’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 Palo Alto are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18896 editions of the USGS map, 1889 to 1994. Watch Palo Alto change.Old housesHalf of Palo Alto’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,934 in 1940; 970 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Palo Alto’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Palo Alto’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
On the map

Palo Alto on the map, 1889 to 1994

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

Palo Alto on the 1889 USGS mapPalo Alto on the 1891 USGS mapPalo Alto on the 1944 USGS mapPalo Alto on the 1968 USGS mapPalo Alto on the 1976 USGS mapPalo Alto on the 1994 USGS map1889Pottsville 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 Palo Alto.

The story

How Palo Alto came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Palo Alto.

Read it all →

Heavily forested until the mid-1870s, the land which became the community of Palo Alto was the site of a log cabin and wooden blacksmith's shanty earlier in the nineteenth century. As more and more settlers arrived in the region, the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad and the Schuylkill Navigation Company (later known as the Schuylkill Canal) opened stops here. In response, the neighboring land was surveyed and plotted out by John G. Hewes between late 1844 and early 1845 to create the town of Palo Alto.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Palo Alto, 1844 to 1940

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1844
    FoundingPalo Alto is established
  3. 1870Post officeThe Palo Alto post office opens
  4. 1873Post officeThe Palo Alto post office closes
  5. 1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 20th century
  7. 1906Born hereEddie Delker is born here
  8. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 1,934
By decade

Palo Alto, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Howard St, Palo Alto PA 012015Howard St, Palo Alto PA 01Fox St, Palo Alto PA 022015Fox St, Palo Alto PA 02Fox St, Palo Alto PA 012015Fox St, Palo Alto PA 01Citizens Fire Co2015Citizens Fire CoBacon St, Palo Alto PA 032015Bacon St, Palo Alto PA 03Bacon St, Palo Alto PA 022015Bacon St, Palo Alto PA 02
People over time

Palo Alto, census by census

05001,0001,5002,000190019502000Peak: 1,934

Peaked at 1,934 in 1940; 970 people lived here in 2020.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Palo Alto had its own post office from 1870 to 1873.

Palo Alto
1870–1873
18701950today

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.

Pottsville7 historic placesA+Port CarbonIts storyA−MechanicsvilleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEast Norwegian TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Palo Alto’s history

What year was Palo Alto founded?

In 1844, according to Wikidata. Palo Alto’s post office opened in 1870, and the census of 1860 counted 1,108 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 (6), 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.