Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1922 on, and the census since 1880.
The Rouseville post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1900.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 1,059 in 1930; 457 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Rouseville’s Wikipedia page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Rouseville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Rouseville is a borough in Venango County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 456 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1862. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 523 to 457 (-13%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rouseville. 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 Rouseville.
Passages that mention Rouseville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Rouseville Presbyterian Church was dedicated May 29, 1870, but with the removal of the membership to other points the organization became weakened and finally disbanded. The church was sold and removed.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
was well educated, in music as well as literary lines, and during his early manhood was engaged as instmctor in an academy. Coming to Rouseville in 1862, he soon became well and favorably known in his educational and musical connections, having been leader of the Rouseville Band that year: he was also the leader of the famous Columbia Farm Band. His first
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Reno, Oil Creek and Pithole railroad was completed to Rouseville January 31, 1866, and opened to travel on the 5th of March following. Passenger travel over the Farmers' railroad (now the Western New York and Pennsylvania) was begun August 27, 1866.
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.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Rouseville’s page.
Retake this view · +15Nobody well known was born in Rouseville itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
The Rouseville post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1900.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (4), 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 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.
1860
1860
c. 1861
1866
