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A−History
History · Quemahoning Township

Quemahoning Township’s post office opened in 1880, and 40% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 78% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Trostletown Bridge and the Mount Pleasant Armory. Below: maps from 1914 on.

1880first post office
2on the National Register
40%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Quemahoning Township began

When was Quemahoning Township founded?

1880

The Quemahoning Township post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Quemahoning (1880), Mostollar (1884) and Mostoller (1884), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 1,840146 years

How historic is Quemahoning Township?

A−

More historic than 78% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Quemahoning Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Quemahoning Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Quemahoning Township is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Quemahoning Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1880, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194039.5% of homes (±15.6) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register2 listings, 11.2 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 78%
NewerOlder

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 Quemahoning Township’s 11.2 sits above most of its state (78% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±15.6 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 Quemahoning Township’s past

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

Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Quemahoning Township, and 6 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Quemahoning Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19145 editions of the USGS map, 1914 to 1994. Watch Quemahoning Township change.Old housesHalf of Quemahoning Township’s homes were built before 1954.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Stoyetown
1811–today
Quemahoning
1880–1905
Mostollar
1884–1908
Mostoller
1884–1884
Kantner
1893–today
Kimmelton
1901–1936
Ralphton
1904–1963
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
KantnerKimmeltonMostollerRalphtonReading Number ThreeStoystown
Gone or out of use
California SchoolschoolCity SchoolschoolStoystown Post Officepost officeTexas SchoolschoolWalnut Hill Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Quemahoning Township
Saint Josephs

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Quemahoning Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Quemahoning Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Quemahoning Township on the map, 1914 to 1994

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

Quemahoning Township on the 1914 USGS mapQuemahoning Township on the 1944 USGS mapQuemahoning Township on the 1971 USGS mapQuemahoning Township on the 1981 USGS mapQuemahoning Township on the 1994 USGS map1914Windber 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 Quemahoning Township.

The story

How Quemahoning Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Quemahoning Township.

Read it all →

In 1775, Quemahoning Township was organized, by the Bedford County Court, out of part of Brothersvalley and Turkeyfoot townships. At that time, it included the northern portion of present-day Somerset County and part of what is now Cambria County. Its size was later reduced through the formation of new townships. When Somerset County was established in 1795 Quemahoning was one of the six original townships. The name is a Native American name meaning "pine tree lick," with "cuuni" indicating a pine grove and "mahoni" meaning water from a lick.

The Trostletown Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Quemahoning Township, 1811 to 1914

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1811Post officeThe Stoyetown post office opens
  3. 1880Post officeThe Quemahoning post office opens
  4. 1884Post officeThe Mostollar post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1905Post officeThe Quemahoning post office closes
  7. 1908Post officeThe Mostollar post office closes
  8. 1914On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.
Add from your album
On the National Register

2 historic places in Quemahoning Township

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Trostletown Bridge
Trostletown BridgeMount Pleasant Armory
BuildingsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Romanesque1
Trostletown BridgeStructure
Mount Pleasant ArmoryRomanesque

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Quemahoning Township

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

See all →
Ashley MillerAmerican screenwriter and producer · b. 1971
A
Alexander RatiuRomanian Greek-Catholic priest · b. 1916
F
Frank KostroAmerican baseball player · b. 1937
G
Gerald SnyderAmerican football player · b. 1905
J
John PatrickAmerican football player · b. 1919
Richard PetersAmerican attorney · b. 1780
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Stonycreek Township3 historic placesAJenner Township2 historic placesAShade Township1 historic placeA+Lincoln TownshipIts storyB−Paint TownshipIts storyC−Conemaugh Township1 historic placeAHooversvilleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBensonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Quemahoning Township’s history

What year was Quemahoning Township founded?

The Quemahoning Township post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Quemahoning Township rank for history?

Quemahoning Township is more historic than 78% 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 Quemahoning Township?

Two places: the Trostletown Bridge (listed 1980) and the Mount Pleasant Armory (1989).

How old are the homes in Quemahoning Township?

40% of Quemahoning Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±15.6 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1954.

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).

From the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.