Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1902.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Port Vue’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Port Vue is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #835 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Port Vue’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 Port Vue’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.
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 (±8.9 points). Two sources give 1892.
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 Port Vue’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1891, approximately 500 residents of Lincoln Township decided to create a new borough. They met in a school house on the old Edmundson farm, and initially thought of naming the new borough "Grandview". However, because of the beautiful view of the port that McKeesport maintained on the Youghiogheny River, they agreed on Port Vue instead. Since then, war veterans and coal miners commonly lived in Port Vue. Port Vue borough was incorporated on September 20, 1892.
In 1892, according to Wikidata. Port Vue’s post office opened in 1902, and the census of 1900 counted 1,803 people here.
How does Port Vue rank for history?
Port Vue is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #835 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.
How old are the homes in Port Vue?
22% of Port Vue’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.9 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1951.
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 (2), 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.
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