Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Rural Valley dates its founding to 1836 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Rural Valley’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereJeremiah Z. Brown is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWikipedia doesn’t have a history of Rural Valley yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Rural Valley is a borough in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 826 at the 2020 census.
Rural Valley was established in 1836. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 876 to 826 (-6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Rural Valley, cut from the printed page as they were published.
lished himself as a newspaper man, owning the Record, which he published for two years, and then consolidated with T. G. Hosick, who had founded the Advance, at Rural Valley, on Jan. I, 1901, the plant of the former paper being moved to Rural Valley. Eventually the Record was discontinued, the Advance being issued by the firm of Marshall & Hosick, and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
storekeeper Moses McElwain. This town is one of the stations on the B. R. & P. road and is also notable as the terminal of the Rural Valley railroad, a branch which carries coal and passengers to and from Rural Valley. Quite a business is done in the passenger line, but the service is very unsatisfactory.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
of Cowanshannock township. The membership, of this church in 1876 is 154, and the number of Sabbath-school scholars 100. This church was incorporated as " the Rural Valley church of Rural village," by the proper court, March 23, 1842. John Cowan, Robert A. Robinson, James Reed, Gouin Wallace, William Aitken, John Stoops and Isaac Rhea were the trustees named in the charter, who
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rural Valley. 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 Rural Valley.
Between 183 and 1,033 people in every census since 1880.
13 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Rural Valley’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
In 1836, according to Wikidata. Rural Valley’s post office opened in 1930, and the census of 1880 counted 183 people here.
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 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 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.
