Roscoe became the home for many eastern European immigrants who came to the area to work in nearby coal mines. Slovaks, Poles, Serbs, Croatians, Italians, Hungarians, and Rusyns are all represented in census records of the area from 1880 onward.
The Allenport & Roscoe Street Railway was formed in 1903 and was purchased by Pittsburgh Railways to form part of their interurban line to Pittsburgh in 1906. The 2.4 miles (3.9 km) extension to Roscoe was completed on June 20, 1910. The line was closed in 1953.
The town was originally named Lucyville as early as 1860; however, the community changed its name to Roscoe in honor of the maiden name of a local resident, Mrs. Joseph Underwood,
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Roscoe. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1902Brownsville 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 Roscoe.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Roscoe in 1910
Passages that mention Roscoe, cut from the printed page as they were published.
20th century history of the city of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania1910Read the page →
Read the text
Pa. Mr. Boyle then accepted a position in a grocery store at McKeesport, where he remained three and onehalf years and then embarked in business for himself at Roscoe. Until 1900, he maintained his home at Elco and each day went back and forth, but then moved to Roscoe where he has resided ever since.
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
Roscoe, 1869 to 1963
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.
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 (3), 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.
1902
2010