Portage’s post office opened in 1842, and 49% of its homes were built before 1940
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 561 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Portage post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Portage’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Portage is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Portage’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’s 2,248 sits above most of its state (99% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 561 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Portage’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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
Passages that mention Portage, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Cambria County, Pennsylvania1907 · page 224Read the page →
Read the text
structure is in Summerhill township aiid the other in Wilmore borough, the center of the stream forming the line between the township and borough for about a quarter of a mile to another iron bridge that crosses on the line of the Old Portage railroad on abutments built in 1847 to sustain the railroad bridge that took the place of the stone bridge that, like the bridge near Portage, was undermined by the flood of that year. Here the stream turns to the southward, and about one hundred rods fur-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Cambria County, Pennsylvania1907 · page 358Read the page →
Read the text
The route of the New Portage from Johnstown was on the roadbed of the Old Portage to Conemaugh, where it crossed the Little Conemaugh below the point where the overhead bridge between Conemaugh and Franklin is now located and used the Pennsylvania tracks up to the western end of the bridge west of South Fork. Here the roads diverged, the Pennsylvania crossing to the south side of the Little Conemaugh river, and the New Portage keeping on the north side, on the bed of the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Portage, 1842 to 1941
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Peaked at 4,804 in 1920; 2,459 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Portage’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Portage’s history
What year was Portage founded?
The Portage post office opened in 1842, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Portage rank for history?
Portage is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns. 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?
One place: the Portage Historic District (listed 1995).
How old are the homes in Portage?
49% of Portage’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.3 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1941.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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