Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rauchtown. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1923Williamsport 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 Rauchtown.
The story so far
Rauchtown, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Rauchtown yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Rauchtown is a census-designated place in Crawford Township, Clinton County, and a small portion in Limestone Township, Lycoming County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census the population was 726. Rauchtown is on Pennsylvania Route 880 on the border between southeastern Clinton County and southwestern Lycoming County, at the western end of the Nippenose Valley, between Bald Eagle Mountain to the north and Nippenose Mountain to the south. Ravensburg State Park is on the southern edge of Rauchtown, in the narrow valley of Rauchtown Creek coming out of Nippenose Mountain. PA 880 leads north (via PA 44) 7 miles (11 km) to the borough of Jersey Shore and south 6 miles (10 km…
Its first post office opened in 1884. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 726 in 2010, 722 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Rauchtown in 1892
Passages that mention Rauchtown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Historical and biographical work1892 · page 356Read the page →
Read the text
Although the village is called Rauchtown, the post-office is called Rauch's Gap. The first store in the village was started in i860 by George Rauch. The hotel was first opened by John Metzger in 1873. The house has no license.
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.
By decade
Rauchtown, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1850s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Wikimedia Commons (6), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.
1850
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