Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1849.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Rochester’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rochester is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #370 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Rochester’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 Rochester’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1799.
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 (±9.2 points).
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 →
What stands out about Rochester’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
What eventually became Rochester was originally a Lenape village called Sawcunk. The area was settled in 1799 in what was then the American frontier by white settlers and was known as East Bridgewater, Fairport, and Beaver Point. The borough adopted the name Rochester in 1834 when a local businessman who did regular business in Pittsburgh decided to christen his home with the name Rochester so he could have a unique name to stamp his goods; the borough was officially incorporated as such in 1849.
Passages that mention Rochester, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania1888 · page 603Read the page →
Read the text
It is proper to say, in passing, that a Logst,own on the opposite side of the Ohio river existed at a very early day. It naturally took its name from the Indian Lt>gstown already described, just as the Bridgewater of to-day has a station on the Rochester side of the Big Beaver, known as Bridgewater. Its name is subsequent to, and the result of, the original Bridgewater on the west side. In the same manner, it is easy to see, the controversy over the real Logstown originated.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Genealogical and personal history of Beaver County, Pennsylvania1914Read the page →
Read the text
he remained for a number of years. In 1862 he established in the business with which he is now identified, hardware dealing, and continued successfully in that line until 1895, having in 1891 changed the seat of his operations to Rochester, Pennsylvania. In the latter place prosperity attended him as before, and upon his retirement in 1895 he was numbered among the leading merchants of Rochester. Although he disposed of his store with the intention of making his retirement permanent he found an inactive life little to his liking, and in 1897 he opened his present store on
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
Rochester, 1799 to 1956
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.
In 1799, according to Wikidata. Rochester’s post office opened in 1849, and the census of 1850 counted 993 people here.
How does Rochester rank for history?
Rochester is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #370 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. 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.
How old are the homes in Rochester?
53% of Rochester’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.2 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 (6), 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.
1900
1900