Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1851.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Sewickley’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sewickley is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #197 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Sewickley’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 Sewickley’s 2.6 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1808.
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 (±7.2 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 Sewickley’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The valley surrounding the Big Sewickley Creek was surveyed in 1785 and sold to American Revolutionary War veterans. After the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, settlers began to trickle in to the area, with flatboats, keelboats, and steamboats forming an industry along the Ohio River.
In 1837, the Edgeworth Female Seminary was moved from Pittsburgh to what was then called Sewickley Bottom. The following year, Sewickley Academy was founded. Becoming a small center for education, by 1840 the community was formally established as Sewickleyville. The borough was incorporated as simply Sewickley on July 6, 1853, after growth continued as the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway was built through the area.
Peaked at 6,157 in 1960; 3,907 people lived here in 2020.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Sewickley’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Sewickley in 1889
Passages that mention Sewickley, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania1889 · page 201Read the page →
Read the text
Sewickley Borough. — This borough was incorporated July 6, 1853. The first house within the present borough limits was situated between Park Place hotel and the river, and was owned by George Ulery. When the railroad was opened there was also a group of houses along the Beaver road, several of which were used as hotels. Thomas Hoey owned a farm of three hundred acres, the eastern boundary of which was the present Division street of the borough, then known as “Graveyard lane.” The triangular portion of this farm inclosed by Beaver, Division and Fife streets was sold to John R. Gar-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania1889 · page 196Read the page →
Read the text
The township of Sewickley was erected January 28, 1854, by decree of court, from that part of Ohio township west of the line of Alexander’s and Nicholson’s districts. The name is of Indian origin, and is said to signify ‘ ‘ sweet water. ’ ’ It occurs in the dialect of the Delawares, by whom this region was formerly occupied, and who conferred it upon various localities in the western part of Pennsylvania, notably Beaver and Westmoreland counties, where, as in the valleys of Big and Little Sewickley creeks, the sugar-maple abounds. The surface of the township is exceedingly hilly, and hence it was
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania1889 · page 186Read the page →
Read the text
Practically, Ohio has been reduced to its present limits by the erection of Franklin in 1823, Sewickley in 1854, and Kilbuck in 1869. No event of remarkable interest signalized its early settlement. Being situated on the " Indian side" of the river, the first white inhabitants did not appear more than a few years prior to 1800, as this section of country was not open to settlement until 1792. Henry Wilson, a squatter, is said to have been the iirst settler. Of William Kichey, who settled permanently in 1801, the followingstory is told: "He had been a soldier in Wayne's expedition. While the army
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania1889 · page 555Read the page →
Read the text
The subject of this sketch was educated in the public schools of Allegheny and Sewickley, and received an academical education in the Sewickley and Episcopal academies in Sewickley, Pa. He read law in the oflBce of his father, and was admitted to the bar of Allegheny county Nov. 19, 1876. He commenced practice in Pittsburgh, immediately
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
Sewickley, 1808 to 1960
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sewickley. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1906Sewickley 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 Sewickley.
Every building
Sewickley, building by building, 1895–1905
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.
In 1808, according to Wikidata. Sewickley’s post office opened in 1851, and the census of 1860 counted 795 people here.
How does Sewickley rank for history?
Sewickley is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #197 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.
What is on the National Register in Sewickley?
One place: the United States Post Office-Sewickley Branch (listed 2012).
How old are the homes in Sewickley?
54% of Sewickley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.2 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 (18), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.
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