Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1830.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Schuylkill Haven’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Schuylkill Haven is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #252 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 Schuylkill Haven’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 Schuylkill Haven’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 1750.
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 (±7.3 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 Schuylkill Haven’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Schuylkill Haven. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1889Pottsville 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 Schuylkill Haven.
Before Europeans settled the land that is present-day Schuylkill Haven, the area was occupied by the Lenape Indian tribe, who were known as the Delaware Indians by the British.
The earliest European settlers arrived in the area of present-day Schuylkill Haven in the 1730s. They traveled north of Blue Mountain at the present-day Berks-Schuylkill County line at that time.
The first settler in Schuylkill Haven was John Fincher, a Quaker from Chester County, Pennsylvania, who received a land grant of 225 acres (0.91 km2) on March 5, 1750, the day Schuylkill Haven considers its unofficial founding. Fincher constructed a house and barn near the Schuylkill River, and called his small settlement "Fincher's Ford."
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 1750, according to Wikidata. Schuylkill Haven’s post office opened in 1830, and the census of 1850 counted 2,071 people here.
How does Schuylkill Haven rank for history?
Schuylkill Haven is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #252 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 Schuylkill Haven?
48% of Schuylkill Haven’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1944.
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 (12), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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