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History · Port Trevorton

Port Trevorton’s post office opened in 1889, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers and maps from 1893 on.

1889first post office
0on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Port Trevorton’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Port Trevorton began

When was Port Trevorton founded?

1889

The Port Trevorton post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 734137 years
Founding year: the first Port Trevorton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Port Trevorton’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18936 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1999. Watch Port Trevorton change.Old housesHalf of Port Trevorton’s homes were built before 1951.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Port Trevorton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Port Trevorton’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPort Motel, diner - Esso servicenter - …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Port Trevorton on the map, 1893 to 1999

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

Port Trevorton on the 1893 USGS mapPort Trevorton on the 1947 USGS mapPort Trevorton on the 1953 USGS mapPort Trevorton on the 1969 USGS mapPort Trevorton on the 1977 USGS mapPort Trevorton on the 1999 USGS map1893Millersburg 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 Port Trevorton.

The story

How Port Trevorton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Port Trevorton.

Read it all →

The name of the town comes from its days as a coal port on the Pennsylvania Canal. Coal from the mines of the Zerbe Valley, near Trevorton was shipped to the town via the Trevorton and Susquehanna Railroad, which was completed in 1855, crossing the Susquehanna River on a long bridge from Herndon to Port Trevorton. A canal basin was built for coal loading from the railcars. However, a new route was built to the coal mines via Shamokin, and the bridge was removed in 1870. As the fortunes of the canal declined, so too did those of the town.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Port Trevorton, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s3 items
Port Motel, diner - Esso servicenter - Trailer park, Port Trevorton, Pennsylvania (85774)c. 1930Port Motel, diner - Esso servicenter - Trailer park, …Shaffer's Motel, U.S. Routes 11 and 15, 38 miles north of Harrisburg, 16 miles south of Sunbury, Penna (85137)c. 1930Shaffer's Motel, U.S. Routes 11 and 15, 38 miles nort…Shaffer's Motel, U.S. Routes 11 and 15, 38 miles north of Harrisburg, 16 miles south of Sunbury, Port Trevorton, Penna …c. 1930Shaffer's Motel, U.S. Routes 11 and 15, 38 miles nort…
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today2 recent
Port Trevorton, Pennsylvania 22016Port Trevorton, Pennsylvania 2Port Trevorton, Pennsylvania 12016Port Trevorton, Pennsylvania 1
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.

Port Motel, diner - Esso servicenter - Trailer park, Port Trevorton, Pennsylvania (85774)
Retake this viewPort Motel, diner - Esso servicenter - Trailer park, Port Trevorton, Pennsylvania (85774), c. 1930

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Port Trevorton’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Union TownshipIts storyB−Lower Mahanoy Township1 historic placeAChapman TownshipIts storyBHerndonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townJackson TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Port Trevorton’s history

What year was Port Trevorton founded?

The Port Trevorton post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (5), Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.