Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 573 buildings. Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1880.
Roaring Spring dates its founding to 1865 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Roaring Spring is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Roaring Spring’s 2,454 sits above most of its state (99% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 573 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Roaring Spring’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Roaring Spring.
The Roaring Spring Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. Portions of the text below were adapted from a copy of the original nomination document.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Roaring Spring, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The Roaring Spring Blank Book Co. has been one of the factors in building up the town of Roaring Spring, by giving steady employment to a large number of people residing in the prosperous town of Roaring Spring.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Bare Paper Company, at Roaring Spring, and has advanced step by step until he became manager, in 1898, in the meanwhile having acquired partial proprietorship. He has a number of additional business interests, being president of the Roaring Spring Blank Book Company and vice president of the Roaring Spring Bank, in which he is also a director.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereRonald Mallett is born here
2016Pennsylvania Beauty - panoramio (306)
2016Pennsylvania Beauty - panoramio (289)
2016Pennsylvania Beauty - panoramio (284)
2016Pennsylvania Beauty - panoramio (279)
2014Pennsylvania State Route 36
2012Pennsylvania State Route 36
2012Pennsylvania State Route 36
20081797 - Roaring Spring - PA867
20081796 - Roaring Spring - PA867
20081795 - Roaring Spring - View from PA867
20081794 - Roaring Spring - View from PA867
20081793 - Roaring Spring - Main St at Cemetery Ave
20081792 - Roaring Spring - Main St at Grand St
20081791 - Roaring Spring - Main St approaching Grand St
20081788 - Roaring Spring - Bare Memorial Church of God
20081787 - Roaring Spring - Bare Memorial Church of God
20081786 - Roaring Spring - Main St approaching Spang St …
20081785 - Roaring Spring - Main St at Cherry St
20081784 - Roaring Spring - Main St approaching Cherry St
20081783 - Roaring Spring - Friendship Fire Co
20081782 - Roaring Spring - Main St approaching Robinson …
20081781 - Roaring Spring - PA164 at PA36
20081779 - Roaring Spring - Power facility
20081778 - Roaring Spring - PA164 WBEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Roaring Spring. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Roaring Spring.
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.
1894Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Between 489 and 2,962 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Roaring Spring’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
In 1865, according to Wikidata. Roaring Spring’s post office opened in 1868, and the census of 1880 counted 489 people here.
Roaring Spring is more historic than 91% 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.
One place: the Roaring Spring Historic District (listed 1995).
55% of Roaring Spring’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.1 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1938.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (24), 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.
