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History · Potters Mills

Potters Mills’ post office opened in 1811, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: maps from 1924 on.

1811first post office
1on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Potters Mills began

When was Potters Mills founded?

1811

The Potters Mills post office opened in 1811, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 263215 years
Founding year: the first Potters Mills post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Potters Mills’ 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 Potters Mills are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1811: 215 years of Potters Mills.On the map since 19244 editions of the USGS map, 1924 to 1998. Watch Potters Mills change.Old housesHalf of Potters Mills’ homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Potters Mills’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Potters Mills’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Potters Mills on the map, 1924 to 1998

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

Potters Mills on the 1924 USGS mapPotters Mills on the 1966 USGS mapPotters Mills on the 1973 USGS mapPotters Mills on the 1998 USGS map1924Centre Hall 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 Potters Mills.

The story so far

Potters Mills, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Potters Mills yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Potters Mills is a village in Potter Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States, just east of the Potter-Allison Farm. It is named after General James Potter (1729–1789), who built a log cabin and grist mill there, at what is now the intersection of General Potter Highway (U.S. Route 322) and the Old Fort Road (Pennsylvania Route 144).

Its first post office opened in 1811.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the National Register

1 listing protects 9 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
9
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Potters Mills

Nobody well known was born in Potters Mills itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Jonathan FrakesAmerican actor and director · b. 1952
Jeff VanderMeerAmerican writer · b. 1968
Glenn ThompsonU.S. Representative from Pennsylvania · b. 1959
Andrew Gregg CurtinAmerican politician · b. 1815
George Grey BarnardAmerican sculptor · b. 1863
John Montgomery WardAmerican Major League Baseball pitcher, shortst… · b. 1860

Questions about Potters Mills’ history

What year was Potters Mills founded?

The Potters Mills post office opened in 1811, 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 →
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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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.