On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Portage Township is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #269 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Portage Township’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 Portage Township’s 2.9 sits near the middle of its state (61% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.5 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Portage Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Sonman
1836–1941
Bemis Creek
1851–1860
Myra
1890–1916
Paritan
1891–today
Puritan
1891–1963
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bens CreekFiddlers GreenGermantownJamestownMartindaleMiller ShaftMoudy HillOil CityPuritanRedbirdShoemakerSonmanSpring Hill
9cemeteries and burying grounds inside Portage Township
Hungarian Lutheran ReformedLithuanianProspectSacred HeartSacred Heart MausoleumSaint George Syrian OrthodoxSaint John the BaptistSaint Mary'sSaint Michael Orthodox
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Portage Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Portage Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Portage Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1902Ebensburg 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 Portage Township.
The history of Portage as a community began with the building and opening of the Allegheny-Portage Railroad (APRR) in 1834. Due to its location on the APRR, Portage was originally called “Foot of Two” as it was the located at the bottom of Inclined Plane No. 2. The APRR would build their headquarters a few hundred feet west of the foot (bottom) of Plane No. 2. The headquarters consisted of offices and a shop complex. Also near the foot of the incline was the Washington House Hotel that served as a place to stay for travelers.
“Foot of Two” was eventually renamed “Portage.” The definition of portage is: carrying boats, goods, etc., overland from one body of water to another
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.
Portage Township is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #269 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 Portage Township?
One place: the Bridge in Portage Township (listed 1988).
How old are the homes in Portage Township?
32% of Portage Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.5 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1960.
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 (9), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (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.
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